Hope's Revival
by Shawn45
Summary: Aang failed to defeat Ozai, eventually leading to the destruction of the Earth Kingdom. After over a decade of running, he and his small group of friends found a way to fix their past. In order to fix their past, they must relive their past once more. Discontinued
1. Prologue

A/N - I wrote this some time ago. This is my first serious attempt at an Avatar story, because I have always loved the concept of going back in time to fix mistakes, and occasionally making things worse as well. To be honest, I didn't originally have this prologue, I was going to go along without one and make the reader in the dark for the first few chapters, but the more I thought about it, I disliked that idea, so I came up with this at a whim.

**Prologue**

It has been twelve years since Aang had come out of the Iceberg in the South Pole. In those twelve years, the end of the war that has been raging in the world was come, with the victor being the Fire Nation. The Avatar and his friends tried their best to fight back this oppressing force, but even with the help of the remnants of the conquered Earth Kingdom, and the Water Tribes, the superior might of the Fire Nation won.

Over the years, the opponents of the Fire Nation continued to shrink, until only a few pockets even dare to resist their rule. One of those groups was the Avatar and several of his friends. This particular group had a huge bounty on its head, each member worth a fortune. With bounty hunters on their tail, as well as the Fire Nation, the group fled to the Southern Air Temple, knowing their time there was short.

"It seems Aang is worth the most." Sokka sighed, reading the advertisement that has been posted up all around the world. He had grown to be a very powerful swordsman, still using the same weapon he had created when he was taught by Piandao. He never tied up his hair anymore, instead just letting it fall over his head. He also grew quite a bit of facial hair, which he almost never shaved.

"Well, of course he is." Suki said reading by his side, "He is the Avatar." Suki had grown to be almost as tall as Sokka, the tallest woman of their group. She had been taught by Sokka how to use a sword effectively, and also has been using her fans quite a bit. Though not a master yet in Swordsmanship, she was very skillful with her fans, and appropriately titled a master of them.

"I know he is." Sokka answered, "But I think we all have taken out a ton of their men!"

"You're acting like a child Sokka. Why does it matter how much your bounty is worth?"

"It's in terms of importance." He pointed out to her on the paper, "See, under our names is how much we're worth. Notice how I am worth the least amount out of everyone? Even you're worth more than I am!"

"According to the Fire Nation," She said and leaned in to kiss him.

"You're going to say something corny like, 'but you're worth more than that to me,' aren't you?"

"I wouldn't be your wife if I didn't."

Sokka laughed, "You got that right!"

"Can you two love birds stop flirting with one another and help us out?" Zuko called over to them, "Setting up this ritual isn't exactly all that easy, especially since Toph can't help."

"I heard that Zuko!" Toph yelled, but she didn't deny what he had said.

Zuko had grown to be almost a mirror image of his father, to his complete disgust. To counter this, he always shaved, to make sure he would never be mistaken for Ozai. He was just as tall as Sokka, give or take a few inches, but he wasn't as muscular as Sokka was, probably because he doesn't wave a sword around like a toothpick in a fight. He had become an equal with his sister when it came to fire, though he never made his fire blue, claiming that it reminded him of Azula.

Toph had grown to be the second tallest of the girls, a few inches smaller than Suki, something she constantly teased Katara about. She had lost her headband early on, and had asked Katara to cut her hair short. Though it wouldn't obstruct her vision, since she was blind, she said it was because she didn't want the enemy to use it against her, a very smart move on her part. She was about a head and a half shorter than Sokka. She is by far one of the most powerful Earthbenders in the world; no Eathbenders could match her skill.

"Fine, we'll help you. You have the scroll?" Sokka said walking over to him, making sure not to step on the markings covering the floor.

"Right here." Zuko held it up, allowing Sokka to grab it.

"So far so good," Sokka said, looking at the scroll and then the floor, "Where are all the heirlooms?"

"I got them right here." Toph said pointing to a spot on the floor next to her, where four items lay on the floor.

"Don't scratch them!" Sokka yelped, seeing that they all looked like they were just dropped on the floor.

"Stop worrying." Toph sighed.

"Yeah Sokka, lets help Zuko now." Suki said, pushing him towards Zuko.

They examined the scroll, which identified the symbols they had to draw on the floor with a chalk like substance they had gotten from the Earth Kingdom. Soon they had made a giant circle cut into four quarters, each quarter having an element to represent it.

"It's almost time," Zuko said, looking out at the sky overhead. "We better hurry, the last hour of daylight is about to come."

"Why do we have to hurry again?" Toph sighed, "Don't we get another chance if we miss this?"

"In six months, during the winter Solstice." Sokka answered, reading the scroll.

"Oh, yeah." Toph murmured.

"We have an hour starting now." Zuko said, looking at the suns position. "We need to get Aang, right now."

"I'm all ready here." Aang walked over to the group, Katara by his side. Aang still had his staff that The Mechanist had made for him in his hands. Ironically, Aang had grown to be the tallest person of the group, almost a head taller than both Sokka and Zuko. He grew a full head of hair, allowing it to cover his eyes and arrow, because it helped disguise him when they travelled around the world. Like Sokka, he was also growing facial hair, but he kept his a little shaven, unlike Sokka. He had mastered each element, but because of what Azula had done in Ba Sing Se seventeen years ago, he was unable to go into the Avatar state.

Katara was smaller than Toph by roughly eight inches, it seemed she grew only a little bit since the adventure began – a fact Toph never stopped teasing her over. She had her hair down like she always had it. Unlike Suki and Toph who both decided to cut their hair, she was the only one who kept hers long. She was the one person who always kept the group going, even when all they could feel was despair. Furthermore, she was an equal with Master Pakku when it came to Waterbending, a fact that she was very proud of.

Behind them, a much older Appa followed. Though the Sky bison was over thirty years old, it was still very strong, seemingly in its prime, surprising many people of the group. Aang eventually explained to the group that Appa aged as quickly as the rest of the group, and around age thirty for a Sky Bison is actually when they are most effective.

Upon seeing them Sokka spoke up, "Good." Sokka sighed, "I thought maybe a bounty hunter got you or something."

"I was with him Sokka." Katara spoke, "I doubt he'd be in much trouble even if one did manage to get near us."

Sokka shrugged, not caring much, "Aang, we got the place set up, and Zuko says it's time. The thirteenth hour of sunlight is here, you need to do it soon."

Aang nodded, "Before I do it, I have to ask all of you. Are you sure you're ready? I am not sure what will happen once I activate this. It might not be able to fix anything, and could end up doing nothing, or worse, killing us."

"I will do anything for a chance to fix everything that has happened." Katara said with determination in her eyes, "Anything's better than living in a hopeless world."

Everyone else there agreed with her.

"Ok. If it does work then…" Aang sighed, "I don't know what it will do exactly, the scroll was very vague when it came to what fixing our past mistakes meant."

"We're ready for anything." Sokka stated.

"Ok, I will start the ritual then."

Aang walked over to the center of the circle, while Zuko and Suki ran to get the four heirlooms and placed them circling around Aang. Everyone then sat around Aang, sitting cross legged, while Appa stayed near Sokka, and Momo on top of Appa.

_Please… Let this work. _Aang thought to himself as he began to gather his chi, feeling it flow throughout his body. His chi slowly began to seep out of him, and join the substance the circle was made of, making it begin to glow an intense white color. Each heirloom was beginning to crumble, joining the circle, and it began to circle around Aang, who was trying his best to focus. If he messed up now, there would be no chance to try again.

Suddenly a loud explosion sounded, and the floor below them gave way. Everyone was shocked and opened their eyes, and noticed that they were all falling in a while void.

"The hell?" Sokka shouted, unable to comprehend where they were.

"This is the moment of truth guys!" Aang shouted, "Get ready!"

"If this doesn't work," Toph added hastily, "I just want to say that you're all the best friends I have ever had!" Everyone agreed to the sentiment.

"Don't worry guys, I am sure it'll work," Aang said, wiping his eyes, "I hope we see each other again soon."

Before anyone else could say a word, the world suddenly went black.

**Prologue - End**

A/N - About the heirlooms and everything in this chapter, I came up with it on the spot. I was originally going to have the way how they traveled back in time be a mystery to never be solved. Though, since I decided to make a prologue, I filled in some of the blanks. Please don't analysis how they got to the past too much, I just ask for a little bit of suspension of belief. I hope you enjoyed it!**  
**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter one**

Sokka jumped out of his bed the moment he gained consciousness, shaking his head to both sides to get the sleep out of himself right away. He looked around the tent he's in and spotted Katara sleeping not too far away from him. Without hesitating for even a moment he ran over to her bed and shook her away. Like Sokka, when her eyes opened, she instantly was fully alert and sat straight up in her bed looking around.

"We're… home?" She asked, sounding fairly confused.

"Yes." Sokka confirmed, "But look around! Notice anything?"

She took his advice and looked around some more, and then felt her body, "Sokka… Is this a dream?"

"No."

"So, we actually can change our mistakes…"

"We've never made them."

Katara looked over at Sokka, and really realized the implication. He was a teenager again; fifteen – before they even met the Avatar, and went on the adventure that changed their lives forever. She couldn't help but grin wide at her brother, and let out a happy laugh, "We're children again!"

"That's all you can think about?" Sokka said, but the smile never left his face, "We can change the past! Hell, it's not even the past anymore! It's just a terrible nightmare!"

The two of them continued to do a little celebration in the tent and hugged each other tightly, unable to contain their joy. Sokka got up and changed into his clothes, and then put his coat right back on. He left the tent so Katara could do it as well with him not there with her, but right before he exited he made sure to grab his boomerang and club. He walked out into the middle of their village, and he felt himself breathing harder and blinking his eyes rapidly. He raised his hand up to wipe his eyes, and continued to smile as he went walked around the small village.

It didn't take long for Katara to come rushing out as well, and she too stopped in her footsteps to look around. Like Sokka, she had to suppress the emotions rising out of her.

"It's not destroyed." Sokka turned to her, "I can't believe it…"

"Aang really did it…"

"Yeah, he did."

"We need to go free him again." Katara muttered, "How are we going to find him this time?"

"I know we found him in an iceberg, right?" Sokka asked as he turned to her.

"Yeah, I accidentally used my Waterbending and destroyed an iceberg to make it appear."

"Right, so all we need to do is find the iceberg."

"You make it sound like an easy task."

"Well, considering that we've been running for our lives for the past, I dunno? Fifteen years? This is like getting an early birthday present."

Katara stayed silent as he said that, but she nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right." The two of them went over to the edge of the ice and boarded the boat that the two of them always went spear fishing on, and took off.

The sun was just beginning to rise off in the distance, and it reflected off all the ice, making a very glaring effect. However, this didn't seem to affect either of them, for they continued to row further out. Both of them were very silent, since all the excitement was over, they now were thinking about how they can change things for the better. After a little while however, Sokka stopped and looked around.

"Ok, I think we're far enough from the village. Can you check to see if you can still Waterbend?" Sokka asked, sounding eager to see if she could in fact do it.

Katara nodded, and stood up on the boat. She planted her feet firmly on the boat, began to make the motions for Waterbending she knew by heart. Within seconds she had gotten water out of the ocean, and formed a ball of water in her hands. She turned around to show Sokka the ball. He sighed in relief. Even though it was one of the most basic moves a Waterbender could do, she did it as if it was as easy as breathing to her.

"I am so thankful that you didn't forget how to Waterbend. This will make planning out our moves a lot easier, knowing we won't have to go to the North Pole this time around to learn water bending."

"I have been thinking though," Katara asked nervously, "What if we're the only two that remember everything? What if everyone else forgot?"

"Even if that is the case, which I don't think it is, we have a huge advantage now. You're a Waterbending master now, and no one knows that, and we both know what is going to happen in the future."

Katara again agreed with Sokka, "You're right, I am just being too negative about this." She shook her head, "Are we out far enough? Is Aang out here?"

"I don't know." Sokka answered truthfully, "It has been so long since that day that I completely forgot where I went. I only went this way because I do remember always going this way because I always thought there were more fish out here."

"Well, might as well begin to look then." Katara threw out the water still in her hands back to the ocean, and looked around at all the icebergs formed around them. It didn't take them long to decide upon one which they thought may be big enough to contain the huge orb that Aang was in when they first met him. Sokka rowed a little closer, but made sure that the distance was far enough to where it wouldn't damage to the boat. Katara then began to cut at the iceberg, making the cracks appear in it until it collapsed into multiple pieces, and crashed into the water.

The boat rocked a bit, but it was in no danger. Upon seeing that Aang wasn't in that one, they moved on to the next one they thought could contain him.

Soon, the sun was high in the clear blue sky, shining down on both siblings as they continue their duty. Sokka was leaning back in the boat, appearing very bored, and Katara was on the opposite end, breathing heavily from doing so much Waterbending.

"My body's not used to working like this for so long." She said between deep breaths.

"It's good training," Sokka said seriously, "We'll need it for what we're going to be doing."

Katara nodded, "Still, I don't think over-exhausting me right now is the best of ideas."

"That's true. You should take a little break." Sokka sighed and leaned on the edge of the boat, "I wish we weren't in such a hurry to go out here, we forgot to bring fresh water."

Katara rolled her eyes and reached her hand out for a block of ice floating in the water. She lifted it over of the boat and made sure to get all the salt water off of it, and then she made the ice into a liquid and floated it in the air in front of her. She took a sip of it, and then glided it over to Sokka, who thanked her as he bit into it several times and swallowed.

"Katara?"

"What?"

"I couldn't help but notice that you have your hair down, and not braided with your hair loopies. Why is that?"

"Why? Should I braid it?"

"I dunno." Sokka shrugged, "It's just that we're in a… relatively peaceful area, and we have no threat from the Fire Nation… Kind of, and you didn't do your hair how you used to. I figured when you came here you'd want to change and savor the feeling of actually being clean. It's why I tied my hair up." He pointed out.

"I didn't think of it." She said after a small silence, "I am so used to just getting up and running in the morning and not really grooming myself that it became habit."

"Are you gonna braid it again then?"

"I don't know." She answered.

Sokka nodded and turned away from her, ending their brief conversation.

After ten minutes, Katara stood back up and began to break icebergs once again, not even taking into account their size anymore. She swung her arm in a downward motion, slashing an iceberg into two, and to her surprise, the water began to rise up like a tidal wave, Katara pushed both of her hands downward to stop the water from rising higher, and calmed the water down, however when she looked up, she saw the orb of ice, and inside of it she saw a figure.

"You found him!" Sokka exclaimed and grabbed his club. He rowed his boat over to it, while Katara just ran towards it, ice forming at her feet so she had a hard surface to run on. Once Sokka reached it, he climbed onto the large mass of ice and began to smash the orb with his club, vaguely recalling Katara had done something similar.

Cracks covered the surface of the orb, before it suddenly exploded, sending a huge white energy into the sky. Sokka glanced upwards at it, but Katara paid no heed to it, and rushed into the orb of ice.

"Aang! Aang, wake up!" She rushed to his side, and put his head into her lap. The boy moaned silently, and slowly his eyes fluttered open.

"K- Katara?" He asked weakly.

"Yeah, it's me."

"You look so… young." He noted.

"Speak for yourself!" Sokka said coming over. He knelt down next to Katara and looked at Aang. "So Katara and I figured out how exactly that ritual we all did worked. By fixing our mistakes, it meant sending us to the past."

"The past?" Aang asked, beginning to sit up.

"Yep, this is technically our first time meeting you, and we technically don't know each other, and we technically don't have a Waterbending master, and an almost fully realized Avatar with us!"

"Ok Sokka, we get it." Katara sighed, then looking down at Aang she added, "I'm glad to see that you still remember everything."

"Well, we all should." Aang said, "All six of us."

"Well, half of it is true so far, the other three are unconfirmed…" Sokka sounded nervous saying that, something suddenly entering his mind.

"Don't worry Sokka, I am sure Suki remembers." Katara said, smiling at her brother, "Why wouldn't she?"

"You never know…"

"I am the Avatar Sokka; you can trust my word for it." Sokka glanced at Aang, and then seem to visibly relax.

"You guys are right, I'm worried over nothing."

Aang finally began to stand, but stumbled around for a little bit. Thankfully Katara grabbed a firm hold of his shoulder. "I guess I technically have been stuck in an iceberg for the past hundred years now, huh?"

"Please Aang, don't get started." Katara sighed.

He grinned, and it widened when he saw Appa. "Do you remember anything boy?" He asked, wondering if the ritual worked with animals. A short roar later confirmed his suspicions, and Aang hugged the beast, "It's so good to see you too!" It didn't take long for the three children to get on top of Appa, and for Aang to yelled out, "Yip Yip!"

Appa jumped off the ice, and stayed in the air for a couple seconds, before falling straight down onto his belly, splashing water everywhere.

"Some things never change, do they?" Katara asked Aang, who laughed with her.

Sokka meanwhile, was sitting on the back of the saddle, still deep in thought. His mood to seem to take a complete one eighty degree turn, and unlike in the morning, his happy mood switched to a very serious one. He glanced up at the two making jokes and spoke his opinion.

"I know that it's nice to be back, and I do love the fact that we are back, shouldn't we be making plans? I mean, the Fire Nation isn't going to defeat itself. We have to start planning now, or else this chance will be a complete waste of time."

"We're not going to let the Fire Nation win this time." Aang said with determination, "We have the advantage now."

"We have to make one thing clear now." Sokka said, "Are we going to reveal to our allies our situation?"

"The fact that we're from a timeline in which the future is an endless veil of darkness that even the Avatar himself couldn't stop?" Aang asked, "I have been wondering that myself to be honest."

"I think we shouldn't tell anyone. For every person we tell, the greater the chances the Fire Nation learning of it are. Plus, we don't want to exactly change events too much, or else we won't have the advantage of knowing what happens on our side."

"I agree with Sokka about not telling people." Katara spoke up, "But if we don't change things, then there was no point in coming back. We could save so many people with what we know; we can't just sit back and let things play out the same way!"

"I am not saying that we'll let things go the same way! I mean, we can make minor changes to save people, but we can't do major things to change the course of history forever, or we won't retain knowledge of the future anymore, because it will be too different than ours!"

Aang nodded, "That makes sense."

Katara gave Aang a betrayed look, "You don't think we should try to change anything significant? Sokka is suggesting that we only change small things!"

"Small things that won't change the future in an unrecognizable way!" Sokka said, raising his voice.

"Guys, please." Aang sighed, rubbing his forehead, "The last thing we need to do is fight with one another."

Both of them glanced at Aang and muttered their apologies.

"Ok Katara… If the situation calls for it, we might possibly change something big, only if it is completely necessary. Is that all right?" Sokka muttered.

She considered it for a moment before saying, "That's fine."

The trio continued on their way back to the village without saying much, too busy within their thoughts now to say anything to one another. Within ten minutes they could see a village in the distance, with several people all about it walking around. Before long, the people saw the giant creature floating towards them, and noticed the people on top of it.

"I'm kind of nervous." Aang admitted as he watched the people waiting for them.

"Why? You were a natural the first time this happened." Sokka said.

"Yeah, but that was because I wasn't acting. Now I know so much, and I am supposed to act like none of it happened, and be a kid again?" Aang shook his head, "It won't be easy."

"Just try to get in touch with your inner child." Katara said, trying to be helpful, "You're only twelve now, so I think they'll believe anything you do as genuine."

He sighed and quickly nodded, "I'll try."

Finally Appa got close enough to where the three kids could jump off. Upon jumping off, Appa climbed out of the water, and their small group was suddenly swarmed by several children all looking at Aang, asking him various questions.

"Aren't you cold?"

"Who are you?"

"Why are you wearing that?"

"What's your name?"

Aang smiled at the group of children, and looked back at Sokka and Katara, hiding his face from the rest. He mouthed the words 'help me' to his friends, who both inwardly sighed and went over and calmed the children down, explaining the situation to them.

After the children, came the elderly people, one in particular had something to say however…

"Katara! Sokka! Where did you two go! You didn't tell me anything this morning!"

Both children looked over at their Gran-Gran, who gave them a very disapproving look. For that moment, both of them felt very ashamed.

_I forgot we're kids again… _Sokka thought to himself, but he couldn't get angry at the woman in front of him. He looked at her for only a second before looking away, clenching his teeth and keeping his eyes closed, "Sorry, G- Gran-Gran…" His voice cracked a little bit pronouncing her name.

Katara was fairing only a little better than Sokka, but that was because she was busy tending to the children who all were still asking questions about Aang.

"It's ok." She finally said after a moment of silence, and looked over to Aang, "I am curious as to who you are however."

Aang glanced up at the woman, "I'm Aang, I am…" Both Katara and Sokka both glanced at him, curious as to what he was going to say, "I am the Avatar."

Silence befell the entire encampment. Sokka had an unreadable look on his face, but Katara was unable to hide her surprise that Aang revealed that. Her eyebrows were about to fly off her head and her eyes widened quite a bit, but that was nothing compared to the rest of the camp. The children looked at him with their mouths agape, unable to process the information, and the elders were all far more shocked than Katara was.

"The Avatar?" Gran-Gran spoke up, "You seem pretty young to be the Avatar."

Aang bowed a little bit to her, "I have made stupid mistakes in my life. I am actually supposed to be one hundred and twelve now."

"And yet you're only a child."

"It's a long story."

"I suppose you could show us proof that you're the Avatar then?"

"Sure." Aang decided to do something rather simple, he made a ball of air, and quickly jumped on top of it, flying it around, and as he neared the water, he reached his hands out and bended some to circle around him. He bended the two elements with ease, and finally he decided to blow a little fire out of his mouth. He did all of this in a minute, and when he was done; he had a huge smile of relief plastered on his face.

"My sincerest apologies, Avatar." She said, kneeling down, "I shouldn't have doubted your abilities."

"Please, stand up." Aang said, "I don't like being treated like a king."

"Hm, a humble person you are." She said, "My name is Kanna."

"Nice to meet you Kanna…" _Again._ He added in his head.

"If you need anything, please just ask us. We'll aid you in any way we can."

"No thanks." Aang laughed, "I think I'll just go, eh, explore around here for a while."

Aang began to walk away, not giving Kanna a chance to even insist. Katara didn't even have to think before she stood up and ran after him as well. Sokka also ran to intercept Katara.

"Katara," Sokka began as he ran by her side, "We need to let Zuko know exactly where we are."

"Ok." Katara noted, "Are you staying here?"

"Yeah, I am staying here. I am going to make sure that I am prepared to leave, pack clothes and such this time so we don't have to go around buying supplies so early."

"Good thinking." Katara muttered, "Don't let them figure out what's going on though."

"Don't worry, I'll make an excuse if they do find out that I am packing."

"Ok. We'll see you back here in a little while."

"Don't take too long." Sokka said, and stopped in his tracks. He waved and turned back towards the village. Katara continued to run along, and finally reached Aang's side.

"We need to signal Zuko."

"I know." Aang said, "Do you remember where the Shipwreck is?"

"Of course." She said, "How could I forget?"

"It's been a while." Aang simply said.

The two of them began to walk over to the Shipwreck, allowing silence to fill the air between them. Finally Katara decided to talk.

"I wasn't aware that bringing together all the reagents was going to send us back to the past." She said, "I knew we were going to be able to fix our mistakes, but I thought it meant giving us some spirit powers or something… not this."

"Would you have rather had spirit powers?" Aang asked, sounding amused.

"Well, no. This is far better. Everyone we know is not dead. Seeing Gran-Gran for the first time in years since she died hiding us though is very tough to swallow though. It's like seeing a ghost…"

"Seeing everyone again is what you wanted, remember?" Aang said, a memory filling his mind.

_Aang and Katara sat next to a small fire at the ruins of the Southern Air Temple. A twenty-seven year old Katara sat next to Aang, who had just turned twenty-five. Both of them were leaning against one another, both exhausted, and both of them had bags under their eyes, and they just stared out into the distance. _

"_The last hour of daylight is almost here," Aang muttered, "It's almost time for us to change everything."_

_Katara acknowledged him with a small shake of her head. _

"_I hope it works. That scroll we found wasn't easy to come by, and I'd hate to think it's a hoax."_

"_I don't think it is, Wan Shi Tong wouldn't have kept it in his library if it was a fake." She sighed, "At least, I hope he wouldn't."_

_Again silence came upon them, both of them simply looking into the crackling fire. All the light was all that was keeping light where they were. _

"_We should probably go help them set it up." Katara finally said, "It's not fair that we get to sleep while they set up the ritual."_

"_I agree." Aang said, relieved that she said something. He stood up first, and offered her his hand, which she took without hesitating. Aang had grown to be almost a head taller than Katara, and from their constant skirmishes with the Fire Nation, he wasn't a scrawny man at all. _

_Katara too had grown to be a very beautiful woman, and was one of the last remaining Master Waterbenders on their planet. She didn't take pride in this fact though, because she has seen so many others of her kind be slaughtered, especially during the second siege of the North campaign the Fire Nation held…_

_They stood next to one another, staring deep into each other's eyes, Aang's grays straight into her ocean blue. Both then hugged each other tightly, sharing their anxieties with each other, and then shared a small kiss before breaking apart and walking towards the group. _

"_If it does work, I wonder how it will affect the world." Aang wondered aloud, "I just hope it doesn't end up doing something bad."_

"_I hope it will revive everyone… so we can fight the Fire Nation on equal footing… And so I can see everyone again."_

_Aang was silent for a moment, "Yeah… I want that to happen too."_

_Silence again reigned over them, but being in each other's presence didn't require words._

"It feels like it was so long ago." Aang reflected, "You know… In a way, your wish for what would happen came true."

"Yeah, I guess it did." She said, remembering the conversation as well.

"So…" Aang muttered recalling another thing from the conversation they had, "I am just beginning to go through puberty now, but I am wondering, do you still want to… eh…" He tugged at his collar, suddenly feeling his body's age, "Would you… like to still… uh, be in a… heh… A relationship with me?" He squeaked out.

Before Aang could do anything else, Katara leaned down and kissed him on the lips, and the two of them stood there, feeling as though his feet were glued to the spot. When she parted with his lips, he felt dazed.

"I take that as a yes." Aang said, still dazed.

"Why wouldn't I?" She sighed, "You're silly to think otherwise."

"I guess so."

Katara chuckled at his antics, and began to walk off towards the Shipwreck again, "Come on Aang, it's just a short distance away." True to her word, they arrived at the base of the entrapped ship within a minute. Aang looked up at it, and let out a low whistle.

"It still impresses me that a small group of Waterbenders could do this." Aang muttered, looking at the ship.

"Yeah, it is impressive." Katara reflected. After a short pause she asked Aang, "Ready to go in?"

"I am." He answered; they both went over and entered the ship from the half of the ship that was lower, using Airbending to get in when necessary. Once they entered the ship, they walked quickly through the ship, not wanting to waste any more time than they all ready had.

"Which door was it?" Katara asked.

"Does it really matter?" Aang wondered, looking at her.

"I don't know… Maybe it does?"

"Let's try this door then." Aang said pointing towards the door near him. He walked over to it, his shadow covering the door. He shook a little as he gripped the handle to the door, and laughed a little, "I feel like it might explode if I open it."

Katara rolled her eyes, "Aang, I really doubt they'd waste their time doing that."

"You're probably right." He then opened the door, and took a step forward. Both held their breath, but… Nothing happened.

"Well, that was suspenseful." Katara muttered, "What's in here anyway?"

They both entered the room and explored for a little bit, finding it to be a small armory. It had outdated Fire Nation armor, and several weapons from half a century ago. Aang continued to look around; until he found something that he knew Sokka would love.

"Hey, Katara, look at this!" He pulled up a sword off a rack he was examining, but suddenly felt the weight of it and nearly dropped it to the floor. He managed to hold onto it though, and put it back on the rack before he hurt himself, "That thing is heavy!" He gasped, "I wonder if Sokka could even use it?"

"I don't know." Katara came over and examined it as well, "It doesn't look too bad, and I bet he'd like it."

"Only hard part is carrying it with us." Aang sighed, "It's a lot heavier than it looks."

"I'll take your word for it." She said glancing at the sword, "Should we leave it and come back for it later?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Aang agreed, and both of them left the room to continue their search to set off the flare. The two of them walked a little bit longer, and finally came to the door that they believe might be it.

"Ready?" Aang asked, with his hand again on the handle. When Katara nodded, he opened it, and saw that he was on the bridge of the ship, "Bingo!"

Within seconds of both of them wandering into the room, the door slammed shut and locked itself, and all the windows in the room instantly shut. Seconds after that a flare shot into the sky above the ship, reflecting out in the distance.

"Our work here is done!" Aang said excitedly, "Let's get out of here!" Without giving Katara much time to prepare herself, he grabbed her and Airbended out of the ship, bursting from the top, and slowly progressing further and further down the ship, until he reached the ground.

"Warn me next time you do that!" Katara exclaimed.

"Sorry, I was just eager to get out."

Katara sighed and decided to drop the subject, "Ready to head back to the village?"

"Do you think I should bother going?"

"Why not?"

"Because last time I remember I was banished from the village because I let the flare off. I am sure they saw it again this time."

"Last time they didn't know you were the Avatar." She countered.

"Did they really not know?"

"I am sure of it."

"It has been so long since this happened that I kinda forgot when I told them." He admitted.

"Come on Aang, be a man." She grabbed his hand and began to pull him towards the village. Aang shrugged and soon was walking side by side with her, not releasing her hand.

"But last time you told me to try being a kid!" He muttered. Katara made a point however to ignore him.

Back at the village, Sokka watched the flare go up. _Finally, could they have waited any longer? _He turned to Kanna, who looked on with wide eyes, "Gran-Gran, they went into the shipwreck." He stated matter-of-factly.

"I know." She sighed, "I am at a loss of what to do."

"If there's any Fire Nation ships around they've no doubt seen it, and we do have the Avatar with us now…"

"We have to banish him."

"Wha- Really?" Sokka asked, completely taken aback, _I thought her knowing that he was the Avatar would change her decision, thankfully it hasn't. _Though he didn't show it, Sokka was so relieved to hear that, _Things are still progressing how they did before… We still have the advantage. _

"Yes. It would be unwise for us to keep him here where they could take him away. We're defenseless when it comes to the Fire Nation."

Sokka scoffed, "Come on, I could take on a few of them."

"Almost defenseless." Kanna corrected herself.

Sokka put his hand up to his face to hide a grin, _If only she knew what Katara and I are capable of now… _"Do you want me to go on ahead and tell them?"

"No, we'll wait for them here."

Sokka nodded, and watched as the village gathered around the two of them. All of the older members had large frowns covering their faces, their eyes downcast. While the children were asking them what was wrong. It didn't take Aang and Katara much longer to reach them.

_Aang is doing a great job looking guilty. _Sokka noted,_ Then again, I wouldn't put it pass him to actually be feeling guilty. _He let out a low sigh so no one could hear him. When Aang came within distance, Sokka put up his act, "Avatar! Look what you've done! You put all of us at risk!"

Aang looked shocked at Sokka's outburst, and Sokka almost lost his composure, Aang_ doesn't think I am serious does he? _

"I am Sorry." Aang finally said, "Katara and I just wanted to explore a ship. It was all my idea. Forgive me."

"For your own protection young Avatar, I suggest you leave."

"Gran-Gran!" Katara exclaimed, "You can't do that! He's our last chance in the world, and you're telling him to go away?" Even though Aang and Sokka were both acting, Katara was serious; _Gran-Gran would send away Aang knowing he's the Avatar? I thought she was braver than that!_

"Katara! Stop being selfish, I know you want him to teach you how to Waterbend, but he has other duties to attend to!"

Katara widened her eyes in shock, "You- You think I am that selfish?" She shouted, but suddenly calmed down, _would I have been like this if I had known he was the Avatar the first time around? _She stopped her outburst, but still looked angrily upon Kanna.

"Katara, please," Aang looked over at Katara, narrowing his eyes at her. Whenever he looked at her like that it meant that he was serious, and it always calmed her down, because it assured her that Aang knew what he was doing.

"Ok, Aang," She sighed.

"I am sorry for causing you so much trouble." He turned around to leave, but Katara grabbed his shoulder and quickly hugged him.

"Stay close." She whispered into his ear.

"I know." He whispered back to her.

They parted, and Katara stood there, watching Aang walk away. Turning back, she walked over to Kanna, who gave her a suspicious look. Sokka watched the two, not sure what to do about it. The tension however, was broken when suddenly a young boy ran up to the group and claimed that a ship was coming towards their village. A collective gasp was heard, though Katara and Sokka both locked eyes with one another.

"We need to be prepared." Sokka said at last, "Gran-Gran," He turned to her, "Make sure everyone else is safe. I'll protect us!"

"Sokka, please, don't do anything that will risk your life." Kanna said, looking at him with concern.

"Please." Sokka bowed to her, "Let me fight."

At that moment, Kanna couldn't say no. He reminded her of her own son so much at the moment, that she shook her head, "Be careful."

"Will do!" Sokka said, running towards the village and spied out the ship. _It's Zuko on there, we'll be fine. _

From a distance, Aang watched Zuko's ship come closer and closer to the village. Appa grunted near him, but Aang just waved at him and told him to be quiet. Within ten minutes the ship was just about to hit the village.

Sokka was completely prepared, though he figured he didn't truly have to be. He knew Zuko was on the ship, and knew that Zuko must have come back in time with the rest of them as well; _At least, I hope he did. _To make sure though, Sokka had his club and a machete ready at a moment's notice. Unlike last time, he didn't bother putting on the war paint.

The ship crashed into the ice, and plowed right up to the wall, which a ramp from the ship suddenly came down upon, crushing it. Sokka stood in front of the entire group of villagers, while Katara watched from among the villagers as well. Several soldiers marched out of the ship, and then came the one Sokka had been waiting for.

Zuko walked down the ramp, dressed in his Fire Nation armor, his hair pulled up into a long ponytail. He glared at all the members present, his eyes then lingering on Sokka for a moment. In that moment, Sokka gave a very subtle nod, which only Zuko noticed. Zuko returned it back with a nod of his own, before continuing down the ramp.

"Where is the Avatar?" He demanded, "I know he's here!"

"We don't know who you're talking about!" Kanna called out.

"Don't play games with me old woman."

"Shut up Z-, eh, Fire Nation scum!" Sokka yelled, almost slipping.

Katara felt her chest constrict very tightly when Sokka was about to say Zuko's name, but she was able to breathe easier when Sokka caught himself, though she was nearly scared half to death.

"Be quiet peasant. When I ask you a question, then you may speak."

"Who are you to tell me that?"

"You are insignificant compared to me. I am Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation. You do not stand a chance against me, so I would suggest you stop playing with your toys and hand the Avatar over."

This caused Sokka to charge at Zuko with his club drawn, but Zuko side-stepped his charge and easily pushed him down into the snow. Sokka spit out the snow that got in his mouth and growled, and tried to hit Zuko again, only to be pushed back.

Zuko then slammed his palm right into Sokka's abdomen, causing Sokka to let out a gasp of shock, and clutch himself in pain. He glared up at Zuko, who showed no sign of meaning it was an accident.

Sokka slowly got up, breathing heavily, because that blow was very painful. _Damn you Zuko! Did you have to hit so hard? _Sokka coughed a little bit, but shakily stood up, and picked up his weapons again. _Don't show off Sokka… It's all an act._ Sokka charged Zuko again, allowing some of his reflexes to come into play this time.

Zuko tried another quick hit to Sokka chest, which Sokka quickly countered, twisting Zuko's arm, and kicking him bad towards the ship. Sokka grinned at Zuko, who didn't look very pleased. Zuko stretched both of his hands out as far as they could, and summoned fire to both hands.

"You want to play rough peasant? Then I'll show you how we do things in the Fire Nation!" Zuko shot several fire balls at Sokka, who ran from it was fast as he could, not wanting to get burned.

_What is he doing? _Sokka screamed in his mind, but he still managed to dodge the flames with relative ease. He drew his machete, ready to get serious, when suddenly Aang came in on his glider, getting between the two fighters.

"Stop!" He shouted, realizing Sokka was just about to fight Zuko with all his strength, "You wanted the Avatar." Aang said, "Here I am."

"You're too young." Zuko pointed out, "Do you think I am stupid?"

Zuko looked over to Kanna, who was staring at Aang with shock, satisfied with that as evidence; Zuko looked at Aang once more. "Men, take him away." Aang willingly gave up his staff, and allowed two other Fire Nation soldiers to hold his hands behind his back; he looked back at the village, and gave a small smile before he left.

"You're lucky." Zuko simply said to Sokka, before turning around and following the rest of his men onto his ship. Once on the ship, Zuko ordered the men to put Aang in his own room. Though the men looked somewhat confused, they complied with him, and dumped the boy in the room. Zuko then ordered them to leave, saying he could handle a harmless child by himself. Satisfied, both guards left Zuko alone with Aang in the room, throwing Aang's staff against the wall.

"Zuko? You did come back, right?" Aang asked when Zuko locked the door behind him.

"I did." He confirmed, Aang noticed that Zuko's voice switched from being angry outside, to a calm and quiet tone, similar to how he always talked with his friends, "I wasn't expecting to come back in time, of all things."

Aang nodded, "It does make sense though, if you think about it."

"Why's that?"

"Because how can we fix a past mistake if it has all ready happened? What better way to fix it than do it over again?"

"I guess you're right." Zuko shrugged.

"So how have you been handling seeing...-"

"Uncle Iroh?" Zuko finished his sentence, "It's difficult. It's like seeing a ghost."

Aang chuckled a little bit, but when Zuko gave him an odd look he quickly explained, "Sorry, Katara said the same exact thing about Kanna."

"Oh." Zuko muttered, "It felt weird to invade the village where we stayed for several months hiding out."

"Try just staying there, even for just a couple hours." Aang sighed, "This is a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"Tell me about it. I can't look my uncle in the face. Even this far back he's always been kind to me and giving me words of wisdom, and I never listened to it. I was such an ungrateful brat…"

"He loved you all the same." Aang stated the fact, "This time he won't die." Zuko seem to visibly react to the word die by looking downward, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that word."

"No. It doesn't matter. I just still haven't gotten over it."

A very uncomfortable silence fell over the two of them, Zuko just looking down at the floor, while Aang was sitting on Zuko's cot. Finally Aang coughed, catching Zuko's attention.

"Have you told anyone about our secret?"

"I haven't."

"Good. We all decided that we shouldn't tell anyone, because it could cause someone to leak it out, and our advantage would be done with."

"I see." Zuko was quiet for a little longer before he walked over to a chair near his desk and sat down, "I don't know if I can keep it from Iroh, I know he could possibly help us."

"I was wondering if you should tell him too. I was also wondering if I should go tell Bumi the same thing."

"They could get the White Lotus Society to act earlier." Zuko explained, "It would be a huge help if they act as soon as possible."

"Ok." Aang agreed, "Don't tell Iroh right away though, there has to be a perfect time for it, and I doubt right now is."

Zuko nodded, "I suppose so."

"Don't worry Zuko, it'll be soon enough."

Zuko nodded, and looked as though he was struggling to say something. Finally, he spoke up, "I am going to stay as part of the Fire Nation for now, so I can give you details on their plans to capture you, or anything else I think may interest you all."

"That's a good idea." Aang agreed.

"You're not going to disagree?"

"Nope."

"I figured you'd want me to travel with you on your bison as soon as possible."

"If I was a kid again, yes, I would want that, and I still do want it, but I know what's important. You being here right now is for the best of everyone. My selfish needs don't matter."

Zuko nodded and looked out the window, "Tell Sokka I am sorry I hit him so hard. My troops have seen me fight, and would have known if I was holding back."

"I am sure Sokka will understand." Aang said, waving it down, "I think they should be here pretty soon actually."

"I plan on sailing straight to Kyoshi Island. Do not damage my ship here, I recall meeting Zhao at some Fire Nation docks a little bit from here, and he learned of you there. I don't intend to meet him at all if I can help it."

"What are you going to do at Kyoshi Island?"

"You're going there as well, right?"

"After I take a short trip to the Southern Air Temple."

"Then I will meet you all on the island. I know Suki is there, and with five of us, we can make plans for our next moves."

"Sounds good." Aang said, "Just as long as your men don't destroy the Island like last time."

"I don't intend to. Just make a quick escape, and I can lie to them saying you weren't on the island at all."

Aang relaxed on the bed letting out a small content sigh, "I could get used to this." Zuko just rolled his eyes at Aang, but couldn't help but have a subtle smile on his face.

_Everything is going just right for once… _Zuko thought to himself as he closed his eyes and began to relax for the first time in years.

Sokka ran over to Appa, putting all of their supplies on him, while Katara was busy talking with Kanna. All the children were quiet as they watched Sokka run back and forth between his tent, taking out all of his things he'll be needing, and throwing them on Appa's back, while the older people were offering help when needed, knowing that Sokka and Katara were soon to be gone.

"So, it seems you two have finally grown up." Kanna sadly stated, looking at Katara, who also had a frown on her face.

Though she wanted to go, leaving behind Kanna after having lost her for many years, was a heartbreaking experience.

"Y- Yeah." Katara said weakly, "I am so sorry Gran-Gran."

"Don't be, you're doing what your heart is telling you to do."

She nodded, barely able to hold in her tears. Kanna saw that Katara's eyes were beginning to get moist, and reached out to hug her grandchild. Katara did not decline the offer, holding her tightly.

"We'll come back soon." Katara whispered, "I promise."

Kanna only shook her head, and continued to hold Katara. Before long Sokka ran up, panting.

"We're all packed," He eyed Kanna, and looked away, "We'll be gone for a long time." He said truthfully, "I am sorry."

Kanna shook her head, "You're doing what you must."

Sokka went over and hugged her one last time with Katara, and then they all parted. Sokka said bye, and ran back to Appa, while Katara took a little longer to get moving. She took one more glance at Kanna, before rushing towards Appa as well.

"Good luck to the both of you!" Kanna shouted after them, and stood with the rest of the villagers as the two got on top of Appa.

Sokka got on Appa's back, and gripped the reins. "Ready Appa?" He asked, patting the bison's head. Katara was in the back, checking the supplies one last time. "Here we go then! Yip Yip!" He shouted, and Appa let out a roar and took several long strides before jumping into the air, flying above the villagers.

The children were all in awe as they watched it go over head, and soon it was gone. With all the excitement still pumping through them, everyone couldn't stop talking about the events that happened that day, but one thing was within them all that hasn't been there for years, and that was hope.

On the bison, Sokka glanced back at Katara, "You ok?"

"Y- Yeah." She said, wiping her eyes.

"Its tough saying goodbye right when we saw her again, isn't it? I was about to cry when I saw you begin to break down."

She nodded, "Let's just drop it for now, is that all right?"

"Ok." He said, and looked back forward, "We'll be arriving on Zuko's ship in a little bit." Then he added, "Remember to not show off your bending powers too much. You're just a peasant girl from the Southern Water Tribe to them still."

"I'll hold back like you did with Zuko."

Sokka sighed, "I still can't believe he hit me that hard, I mean, that bruised!"

Katara shook her head and looked out at the water as they flew by it, not wanting to talk. Sokka took the hint and focused solely on the ship that was coming closer and closer. It didn't take long for the men on the ship to see the two approaching, and they began to frantically run around, preparing for it.

Inside the ship a soldier ran towards Zuko's room, and knocked on his door as hard as he could, "There's something flying right at us sir!"

Zuko looked at Aang, "Ok, when I open the door, you need to launch yourself out, knocking me down in the process."

"Got it." Zuko nodded, and turned to open the door, while Aang gripped his staff.

"I am on my w-" Before he could even finish his sentence, Aang shot him with an air blast, sending him forward and slamming him into the wall in front of him, he fell to the ground, gasping for breath. The soldier just barely avoided getting hit by the same blast.

"Sorry!" Aang shouted as he used Airbending to run out of the room and begin to escape the ship.

The guard knelt down to help up Zuko, but Zuko shook the help off, "Don't bother with me! Get the Avatar!"

The guard looked momentarily confused, before jumping to his feet, and yelling out, "The Avatar is escaping! Capture him now!" Those people who were relaxing, unaware of the danger, heard the announcement, and stood up instantly.

In another room, Iroh was drinking with one of the people on the ship when the announcement was heard. The soldier drinking stood up instantly, but Iroh decided to speak then, "Are you sure you don't want to finish your tea first?"

"We have to go, you are required to too."

Iroh laughed, "Do not worry; I'll head out as soon as I am finished drinking this."

After a little consideration, the man sat back down to finish his tea.

Appa let out a roar as he landed on the ship, and both passengers on him jumped off. Sokka glared at the small group of four men who ran and surrounded the both of them, and he grabbed his club and boomerang, ready to fight. Katara, tried her best to not show off her bending prowess, and decided not to bend water to herself in fear of giving herself away.

"No killing." She whispered to her brother.

Sokka was silent, but a second later she saw a small nod. Within seconds the men surrounding them punched forth, ready to Firebend at them, but Katara shot her hand up and got some of the water around the deck, forming a small wipe and tripping them before they could finish the move off.

Sokka gave her a stern look, she replied, "Look, it was an accident!" She waved her arms in front of her. Sokka sighed and finally ran forth.

Sokka ran towards the small group Katara tripped, and thwacked one in the gut as hard as he could with his club before the man even had a chance to fight. He heard the guy lose all his breathe, and fall down, knowing for certain he wouldn't be getting up for a while. He turned to the other three who were all up and had their arms in front of them.

_If I had my strength and a sword, I could handle them all… _He thought, and stayed on the defensive, knowing that they held the advantage. The three formed a small line, the one in the middle preparing to Firebend, while the other two held position and watched. Sokka knew that if he even attempted to stop the guy from performing the move, he would be stopped by the other two, so he did the only logical thing he could do. All this went through his mind within a second, and he quickly jumped to the side to avoid the blast of fire.

Katara watched her brother attempt to take out the remaining three, but couldn't help him, because more people began to rush out of the ship. _How can I beat them? I can't show my Waterbending yet, or else they'd report that the Avatar has a master Waterbender with him… _She didn't have to worry long, because out from the door Aang came running.

"Hey guys!" He yelled, "Let's get out of here!"

"What about Zuko?" Katara asked, with a small smile was on her face, showing her relief.

Aang gave a quick shake of his head, a sign the group used that they learned from the future, meaning they'd take about it later. With that, he jumped on Appa, "Come on, we need to get out of here!"

Katara didn't take long to get on, having not been fighting anyone. She pointed out Sokka running from the men shooting the fireballs, and Aang grabbed his staff like a baseball bat, and swung as hard as he could, sending a small wave of air, knocking the remaining three guys off their feet and hitting the against the side of the ship, knocking them out.

"Thanks!" Sokka shouted as he ran onto Appa.

Right when the three of them were on top of him, Zuko came rushing out of the ship with a little less than a dozen men following him. Seeing that his other men on the deck were knocked out, he ordered his men to fire at Aang before he got away. Unfortunately for Zuko, Aang was all ready in the air before he gave the order, and quickly getting away.

At that moment Iroh came walking out, "Zuko, what is going on?"

"Uncle! Help me!" Zuko shouted. Upon seeing Zuko and several other soldiers beginning to make a large fireball to launch, he ran to join the group and help them. Within seconds, they launched it into the air. Zuko however, made sure that it missed Aang, by a very small margin, not wanting to harm the Avatar.

He tried two more times before Aang flew too far away. "He got away." Zuko muttered. When his uncle put his hand on his shoulder he shook it off, "Follow the Avatar! Go full speed, NOW!"

The men on the deck nodded, and got right to work on his order.

In the air, Aang looked back at the shrinking ship, and let out a relieved sigh. Upon seeing Katara's questioning glance at him, he turned back towards them and began to explain the situation, "Zuko is going to be working with the Fire Nation for now, and he'll give us information on the inside workings as often as he can. He told us that he'd meet us at Kyoshi Island, saying that we can plan our next move there with Suki." Hearing her name, Sokka sat up.

"When are we going there?"

"Pretty soon actually, I just need to make a small trip to the Southern Air Temple."

"Why do we need to go there?"

"Two reasons," Aang held up his hand with two fingers up, "To get Momo again." Katara let out a small laugh, "And to get Monk Gyatso's heirloom."

Katara decided to speak, "Why do you need to get that? You don't plan on going back in time again do you?"

"We're never sure. I don't want to spend seven years gathering all these items again if we do screw up. It's better to get them now when the Fire Nation doesn't control the planet than to do it while they do."

"I guess that makes sense." Katara said.

At that moment Aang looked forward; and turned Appa off the course he wanted him to go for a little bit to make a small detour. When he began to fly low, the other two began to notice that something was going on.

"What are you doing Aang?" Sokka asked, looking over the side of Appa.

"You're a master swordsman, so it's better if you have a weapon you can use perfectly, than to continue to use the ones you have right now."

Katara's eyes lit with realization, "I forgot!" She said, "Sokka, we found a sword while we were in the shipwreck that we thought you could use!"

Upon hearing this, Sokka formed the biggest smile, and his eyes opened wide, and he hugged the person nearest to him, who was his sister. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Sokka!" Katara shouted, and gently shoved him off herself, "It's the least we could do, since we don't need anything to be a master in our abilities."

"Besides Water." Aang pointed out.

Katara rolled her eyes, "Yes, besides water."

Within minutes Appa had landed at the base of the Shipwreck, and they got out and into the ship. It didn't take Aang long to find the room that he found the weapon in. Upon seeing the sword, Sokka went over to examine it. After a minute or so, with both Aang and Katara just watching him from behind, he slowly lifted it off the rack.

He then weighed it in his hand. "It's a little heavy, but I think I could get used to it." He spun it around himself slowly, getting used to the weight.

"Do you like it?" Katara asked.

"Well, it's not as good as my space sword, but other than that, this is a great weapon, still sharp after all these years in here too."

"That's good." Aang sighed, "I was afraid it would be too heavy. I could barely lift it up for a minute without dropping it."

Sokka shrugged, and looked around for a sheath. He ended up finding it near the weapon rack. "Ok, I am ready." The sheath had a strap around it, so Sokka was able to tie it around his back.

With that out of the way, the three of them went out of the ship and to Appa, and within minutes they were on their way to their first stop to try and save the world once more.

**Chapter one - End**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter two  
**

It took Aang, Katara, and Sokka almost two full days of constant flying to reach the Southern Air Temple, and by the time they got there, all three were exhausted from the sleepless trip. Once they landed within the temple boundaries, they decided to sleep for the night. Sokka and Katara got their sleeping bags out, and fell asleep almost instantly, while Aang stayed up on Appa, watching his two friends.

Aang watched for only a few moments as the small fire he had set up highlighted the ruins around him, and his eyes wandered around the camp sight, checking for any signs of movement, and his ears were listening intently to anything around him. After a couple minutes of doing this he let out a sigh and leaned back on Appa.

"Why am I doing this?" He asked no one in particular, "We're not wanted by the entire world right now… Only Zuko is after us, and he's on our side. So why can't I sleep?"

He glanced down at Appa, who was fast asleep, "How can you and the other two fall asleep so easily? I can't stop thinking about our situation -what's the possible outcome of all of this…" He shook his head, "I won't let history repeat itself."

With that declaration, Aang got on his side, and closed his eyes, trying to get to sleep, but even being as tired as he was, as soon as he closed his eyes he saw the day that he failed to save the world, when he fought Ozai at the age of thirteen…

"Urgh!" He groaned, opening his eyes again and opting to stay awake to protect his friends, even if it was a pointless gesture.

"I guess this is useful." He shrugged, again talking to himself, "I remember Sokka telling me to sleep one night, and I refused and stayed up. Turned out that night a group of assassins had found us, and if I hadn't been up, the chances of us being here now would be close to none," He let out a small forced chuckle, "Maybe that's why I do this every night now."

It was two hours later when the sunlight began to rise that exhaustion finally took him over, and he fell into a restless sleep.

A few more hours later, Katara began to wake up. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that the sun was all ready pretty high in the sky, meaning it was almost noon. She slowly sat up, allowing her body to get used to being awake. Though she still felt tired, her mind was screaming at her to get up.

It didn't take much longer for her to get out of her sleeping bag and let out a yawn as she stood up on both legs. Looking over to Aang, she noted that he was fast asleep on Appa, who was also still asleep. She walked over to Aang, and let out a sigh, "You were up all night again weren't you." She accused his sleeping form, "You know I can always tell." She watched him a little longer before going over and shaking Sokka awake.

"No…" Sokka muttered as he rolled away from Katara's shaking hand, "I wanna sleep."

"Come on Sokka, we've been asleep for way too long, the sun is all ready way up in the sky."

"What?" Sokka burst up, and looked towards the sky, "The sun is up? Why did I sleep this long!" He flew out of his sleeping bag, and looked around for his sword, "We don't have time to sleep, especially until noon!"

"I guess our bodies aren't used to getting up before the sun does." She suggested.

"Damn you body!" He fell to his knees dramatically as he yelled at his weaker form.

Katara watched all of it with a straight face, "Done now?"

Sokka looked over at her before standing up, "I could go on, but I doubt my audience would appreciate it."

"Ha ha." Katara replied dryly, "We should begin to train now; we also need to have some sort of alarm to wake us up earlier."

"Well, we could always have Aang wake us up until our bodies are used to getting up roughly six hours earlier than we usually wake up, he is usually always up before any of us. Speaking of Aang, where is he?"

"He's sleeping on Appa." She said pointing to his sleeping form, "He was up all night, again."

"Really?" Sokka asked, getting serious, "He really shouldn't do that."

"I know, but every time I try to talk to him about it, he just nods along with me, and then goes on and does it again. He claims that he is protecting us."

Sokka was silent, "He is though, and we would have died that one time if he hadn't done so."

"It doesn't matter now." Katara said shaking her head, "We're in the past, no one knows he is around yet, I just can't figure out why he keeps doing it."

"If he keep doing it we'll just start to take turns like we did before." Sokka sighed, "Anyway, just let him sleep for a little while longer, we need to begin training, and start looking for Momo."

"You're right." Katara sighed, "I already am a master waterbender, but I need to begin to physically get back to the strength I had back then."

"You're welcome to join me for my warm-ups," Sokka offered, "But you need to continue working on waterbending, or else you might get rusty with it."

"Thanks, I'll do that." Katara said smiling at her brother.

Meanwhile, out at sea, Zuko's ship is traveling towards Kyoshi Island at a slow pace, because he knew the Avatar would be making a detour at the Southern Air Temple. At the moment however, he was inside the ship in the break room, sitting across from his uncle having a cup of tea, being oddly silent.

The crew watched him with a careful eye, knowing that when he was quiet, it usually meant he was fuming on the inside, so they kept their distance with the teenage boy at all times. That meant however, that the entire room was empty except for the two occupants in it.

Iroh simply watched Zuko, as he took a sip of tea he watched as his nephew continued to drink his own, but doing everything in his power to avoid looking at his uncle. _This is very uncharacteristic of Zuko, I wonder what's on the boys mind. _He took another sip of tea before lowering his cup and examining Zuko by leaning forward and pressing his elbows on his knees, his eyes were narrowed, and they seemed unusually focused for the old man.

"What's wrong uncle?" Zuko finally said after a few more seconds of the uncomfortable silence.

"You're acting different Prince Zuko,"

"I see." Zuko simply said, not allowing any emotion to enter his voice.

"To be honest, it's beginning to concern me, In the past two days since we saw the Avatar you have been unusually silent, and you've not asked for any training since then either. Prince Zuko, is something bothering you?"

Zuko would have slapped himself across the face, _I am being too obvious, _He mentally cursed to himself, "Nothing is wrong." He said a little forcefully.

"Oh, is that really the case?"

"Yes, I am just thinking." Zuko said, looking off to the side.

"Is that why you're avoiding eye contact with me then?"

Zuko was saved from answering when an officer walked towards the two of them, "Prince Zuko, there's a docking base a little ways from here. We could stop there to resupply and rest if you wish to do so."

"No, we're passing it." Zuko said, "We can't waste anymore time."

As the officer began to leave, Iroh decided to speak, "Oh, Prince Zuko, I would love to go there to restock on some things – I am sure our crew would certainly appreciate it."

"No." Zuko said again, _I refuse to see Zhao again so early… _

"Why are you so against going there?"

"I told you uncle!" Zuko began to shout, "We can not waste anymore time than we all ready have!" He looked over to the officer who was still in the doorway, "Make haste towards Kyoshi Island, I am sure the Avatar will be there!"

Iroh watched as Zuko gave the command and continued to stay silent, and he watched as Zuko turned back towards him with his eyes downcast.

"I am sorry uncle, I have my reasons for not wanting to go there, I will explain things to you when I feel the time is right." The two sat there in silence again, both unsure of what to say. Finally Iroh let out a soft sigh.

"Zuko, would you like to play a game of Pai Sho with me?"

Zuko looked at the board, and considered it for a moment, before he shrugged began to play a match against his uncle.

"You call this a warm-up?" Katara called out as she came to stop, and leaned against a pillar of the temple, "I am exhausted!"

"It was when I was twenty something!" Sokka countered, "I didn't realize how weak I was back then, or now – argh, whatever!"

Katara slid down the pillar she was leaning against so she was sitting with her back against the stone, while Sokka just collapsed onto his back and took deep breaths from the ground.

"That's enough for now." Sokka called out, "We should go wake Aang up and make him train too."

Katara shakily stood up, and grabbed Sokka's hand, and jerked her hand back so he came rushing back up to his feet. "Thank you." Katara didn't respond, and soon the two of them dragged their feet back to where they camped for the night. On Appa was Aang, and lying on Aang's body was…

"Momo!" Katara shouted in delight.

The lemur looked up and let out a happy sounding yelp as he flew over to the two of them and circled them.

"It's nice to see you again too." Sokka said, as he pet Momo, who landed on his shoulder, Sokka then paused, "You wouldn't happen to know where there's some food in this place would you?" He asked the lemur, who simply took off.

"Do you think he can understand us?"

"Sure he can!" Sokka laughed.

Soon enough Momo arrived with various assortments of fruit in his feet, "Good boy!" Sokka called out, petting Momo.

Katara watched the display of affection with a small smile before she went over to Aang, and shook him awake.

"Who's there?" Aang muttered before sitting up and rubbing his eyes, "Katara?"

"Hello Aang." She answered, and leaned forward to kiss him, "Come on, time to eat something."

Aang was momentarily confused for a little bit, before he gathered his surroundings, and then looked towards Sokka and Katara, "Oh, right, the past." He muttered, shaking his head, "How are you guys this morning?"

"It's afternoon actually," Katara corrected, "And I know you stayed up all night again."

Aang looked down guiltily, "Sorry."

Katara sighed, "Why did you do it last night? We're in no danger right now, so I just don't understand."

"I don't know. I just feel better if someone is watching you guys while you sleep."

Katara sighed, "Do you want us to have night shifts again?"

"So early?" Aang asked surprised, "But we're in no trouble now…" He paused hearing his own words.

"My point exactly, there's no point for anyone to get no sleep at night if there's nothing to worry about, and if it's a problem we can take turns keeping an eye out for everyone in the camp like we did before."

Aang nodded, "You're right. I guess I am just a little paranoid."

"A little?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"All right, all right," Aang said waving his hands, "I'll just try to get to sleep from now on."

"That is all I ask for." She said and hugged him, before letting him go, "Look who Sokka found." She said pointing out Momo.

"Momo!" Aang shouted, and the lemur darted towards Aang and settled on top of his head, "Hey, I missed you too buddy!"

"Here Aang," Sokka said as he tossed the Avatar an apple, "Momo found it, and here Katara." He tossed her one as well, "So we're all here, what's the plan?"

"Aren't you the planning guy Sokka?" Aang asked, shrugging.

"Fine, I think we should probably stay one more night just to rest up and then tomorrow morning we should head out to Kyoshi Island." Sokka answered.

"Sounds like a plan." Aang said, "What should we do while we're here then?"

"Well, Katara and I already had our warm-up, so we're going to be training, you should do the same." Sokka said, before going over to Appa and picking up the sword that he had received from the Fire Nation ship, "I have to get used to this sword." He said pulled it out of the sheath, and doing a few basic swings.

"Ok, so we need to train." Aang muttered, "Sounds fun. Katara, want to practice Waterbending then?"

"Sure, why not." She said.

"Good, we'll go down to the waterfall in the lower levels. Sokka, are you fine staying here alone?"

"Yes, I'm fine; you two lovebirds go somewhere alone." He said intentionally getting a rise out of them.

"Sokka!" Both shouted, causing him to laugh out loud.

Down below the two Waterbenders faced one another in a small pond. Nearby was a small waterfall that supplied the pond with water, and then the pond went down into another, similar to the place at the Eastern Air Temple where Aang learned about his chakras. They started with basics, and slowly worked their way up until they were throwing near lethal attacks at one another, and successfully dodging them with ease.

Neither gave any ground, but it was soon obvious that their constant barrage of attacks at one another was taking its toll on both of them, and soon they both got out of the water to lie down on the grass nearby, both sat close to the clothes they took off before getting into the water.

"Well, that was productive." Katara muttered.

Aang didn't even respond because he was still breathing heavily.

They stayed silent, laying down next to one another for another few minutes, until both of them began to regain their breath.

"Remember the last time we were down here?" Aang said, speaking up for the first time in a little while.

"I'd rather not." Katara said, letting out a sigh, "It's not a very good memory."

"Yeah, I still remember that day when everything stopped going our way…" Aang muttered, his eyes glazed over as he began to remember his previous life.

_"Give up foolish boy!" Ozai shouted as he jumped from pillar to pillar over the vast Earth Kingdom, he grinned insanely as he zoomed towards Aang, the comet's heat blazing against his back, creating a fearful illusion of a demon as he pressed on towards the Avatar. _

_Aang tried to create space between the two of them, constantly bending air towards the much older man, but it was futile as the newly appointed Phoenix King continued his warpath._

_"I will never give up, I will defeat you."_

_Ozai stopped atop one of the large stone pillars as he studies Aang, and he laughed, "You cannot defeat me boy, but if you want death to come to you so bad, then I shall be the one to grant your wish, Avatar."_

_The two clashed again, but it soon became apparent that against the greater might of Ozai with the comet backing him up, Aang stood no chance. He tried with all his might to win, but soon he had created a shield around himself to keep Ozai away._

_"You seek to hide?" Ozai called out, "Come out and face me Avatar, or I will break through your barrier!"_

_When he got no response, he began to Firebend the rock ball Aang built around himself, and after tense moments of firing at it, he broke through, and Aang crashed against a wall, shouting in pain._

_Ozai walked over, and leaned down to pick Aang up, "Pathetic, a child cannot hope to defeat me." He then threw Aang a distance away, and laughed as he walked over to where he threw the boy, "Is that all you have in you?"_

_Aang shakily stood, but fell down to one knee. He glared at Ozai, but he knew that was defeated at that moment. He glanced upwards towards the large pillars of stone, and Airbended his way up, making Ozai take chase. When he reached the top, Aang tried to Earthbend Ozai into submission, but again was soon overwhelmed by sheer power. Ozai bended constant bursts of fires at Aang, covering the smaller boy in multiple burns, and every time he got close, Ozai would throw out a punch to further inflict harm. Soon Aang, was stumbling around, unable to stand much longer._

_"I'm sorry..." Aang mumbled out as he began to lose consciousness, and fall to the ground. He took one last look at Ozai before his world began to turn dark. As his vision darkened, he could hear screaming around him, and the sound of a fight._

_Aang opened his eyes once more, and found that he was somewhere completely different, he looked over and saw Katara and gasped, "What happened?" He tried to sit up, but felt an intense pain go through him and he let out a short cry of pain._

_"Don't!" She pushed him back down, "You have a lot of burns covering your body Aang, several of them were third degree burns. You also broke a few bones, and bruised a lot more." She shook her head, "He did quite a bit of damage to you, I am so glad that you're alive." She whispered._

_"How?" He asked._

_"Toph, Sokka, and Suki saved you." She said, "They saw you losing against the Firelord, and went into save you when they saw you fall unconscious."_

_"I failed..." Aang lowered his head, "I can't believe it. When it came right down to it, I couldn't beat him." He gritted his teeth, "I was so sure I could beat him in a different way than outright killing him, that I threw away the only opportunity I had to finish him off with his own attack." he shook his head, constantly berating himself._

_"Aang!" Katara nearly shrieked, "You can't berate yourself like this! You went out there and did your best, and everyone realizes this!"_

_"My best didn't save the world."_

_"There's still other chances." She sighed, "I hear Iroh managed to liberate Ba Sing Se," Aang shot her a confused look, "While you were gone we met up with him, and he was leading a force to take back the city," She clarified, "Also, Zuko and I beat Azula, so Zuko is technically the Firelord now."_

_"Where is he?" Aang asked, fearful, "Ozai won't let that go well, when he gets back there he is going to hurt Zuko, if not outright kill him! We have to go now!" He tried to sit up, and Katara quickly forced him back down._

_"Zuko is here with us." She said quickly, "We knew the risk, and rather not take it."_

_Aang visibly calmed at that, and finally looked around the place, "The Southern Air Temple?" He asked looking at the nearby waterfall and ponds, "That is really far from where we were, how long was I out?"_

_"Almost two weeks actually." Katara answered, "I've been healing you every day since, but I thought you were gone a few times..." She wiped her eyes, "It's good to see you ok."_

_For the first time Aang realized how close to death he truly was, he looked down guiltily, "I am sorry Katara."_

_"No, it's all right." She mumbled, "You and I both know the risks of fighting in this war."_

_"Still," Aang pressed on, "I fought even when I knew I was going to be defeated because I had the duty to defeat him, I felt as if I couldn't run away, or it would be seen as running away from my duty as Avatar."_

_Katara was silent for a few moments as she tended to Aang's wounds, before she let out a small sigh, "Just promise me you won't do something so stupid again, ok?"_

_"I won't. I promise."_

_She allowed a small smile to grace her lips as she stood up, "I am going to tell the others that you're awake. Sokka has been going nuts over what to do now that we have a foothold in the war with winning Ba Sing Se back."_

_Aang nodded and allowed himself to lay back down on the cot that was placed beneath him, and allowed his eyes to close, "So it will be all right?" He asked._

_"Yeah, you will get another chance to fight Ozai, and next time we will fight with you, and we will win."_

_At that Katara walked off to tell the others of Aang's awakening._

"We were wrong." Katara sighed, "And it all went downhill from there."

Aang was quiet, "It was entirely my fault."

"Please Aang, no it wasn't. Don't blame yourself again."

Aang sat quietly for a little bit before he got up and put his shirt back on, and began to walk away. Katara just sighed as she watched his retreating form walking upward in the temple.

He wandered out to a secluded part of the temple, and sat down and placed his fists together to meditate. Soon he began to feel his chakra pathways, and like before he could feel that his Avatar state was still locked away within himself.

"It seems even transcending time and space won't make it so I have not died in the Avatar state in a previous life." He groaned and fell onto his back and stretched his arms, allowing the afternoon sunlight to shine down upon him.

"I can't believe I failed..." He muttered, narrowing his eyes, "If only I had defeated the Firelord on that day, everything would have turned out differently."

He sat up, crossing his legs, and slapped himself across the face, "No, I can't think like that! It hasn't happened now, we can still change it!" He tried to encourage himself, but it did little to help. He sighed once more, and just opted to look across the horizon.

Soon he felt a hand come on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Katara, "Hey." He said, looking back to the horizon.

"Hey." She said back as she sat beside him, "Mind if I keep you company?"

Aang laughed, "You seemed to have already made yourself at home by my side."

"It's polite to ask, even if I wouldn't move even if you said no."

Aang smiled, but it disappeared after he thought about why she was sitting there. He glanced over at her, "Look, I know what you're going to say: Don't blame yourself for what happened."

"Yeah." She sighed, "That is what I was going to say, and I guess you're going to say that it was in fact your fault that it happened?"

He was silent.

"I thought so." She whispered, "Listen Aang, I know you don't believe me, but none of us blame you for what happened. You had to fight the firelord without the power of the Avatar state. You also had to fight him when he was powered by Sozin's comet, I am just glad the worse case scenario did not play out."

"What are you talking about?" Aang asked, "It did play out, I lost, and he took over the Earh kingdom, and soon destroyed everything that stood in his path. Katara, that couldn't have gotten much worse."

"No, it still could have been worse, you could have died." She looked downcast, "When I saw you that day, it was the scariest moment of my life, and when I thought I lost you…"

The uncomfortable silence reigned for a few minutes as the implications set in.

"But," She looked up, wiping her eyes, "You were ok, and we have a second chance. We can't keep dwelling on the past like this, so please Aang, won't you forgive yourself?"

"I don't think I can." He muttered.

She let out a low sigh, "I don't know how many times I have to talk to you about this before it gets through your head Aang, but the moment you forgive yourself, then you will begin to feel more relaxed, and see the bright side of things."

He looked away from her.

She watched sadly as he still struggled over the fact of the matter, "Do you want to go up to see Sokka and Momo now?"

"Not yet."

"Would you like me to stay with you?"

"Yes."

The two leaned on each other as they continued to watch the sun setting, the uncomfortable setting was slowly destroyed over time as they enjoyed each others company.

Sokka continued to practice with his sword, but it soon became apparent that he was worn out. His movements were sluggish, and he was gasping for breath. Finally he put the sword back in his sheath, and leaned on Appa, panting like a dog that just ran fifty laps.

"You know guys, having a sword that is heavy, and not having the muscle strength of the… future? Past life? Other Universe? Whatever, It's just tough to get used to this with my wimpy little body, you know what I mean."

Appa let out a low grunt, while Momo landed on his head and curled up, "Oh, sure, like you'd know what it's like Appa. You're a four ton flying bison, and Momo, you…" He paused, "You just fly around all the time. You know, I think you should begin to train too!"

He laughed as he found a bag and filled it with a couple rocks. "Here, Momo! Training time!"

He swung the bag across Momo's head, and watched in amusement as the lemur had difficulty even getting off the ground. Soon, Momo just grabbed the strap of the bag and got it off it's body, and then he flew away before Sokka could put it back on.

"Coward!" He called out to the fleeing animal.

Deciding on another course of action, he walked back to Appa, and pulled out some food that he had packed, "Just need a fire." He sighed, and walked around to find a few twigs here and there. "Would be so much easier to have Aang here to help…" He mumbled, "Make a small hole, put twigs in there, and then start a fire, but no, he has to be going around and flirting with my little sister…"

He paused, thinking about that, "I hope they don't do anything too bad, they're only kids," he paused again, and his face turned green, "Yep. They wouldn't do anything like that, or else I would have to beat the crap out of Aang."

Nodding to himself, he began to make a fire to cook the meat he had brought from the South Pole.

After cooking for a while, he heard footsteps coming from behind him, "hey guys, I made us dinner!"

"You know I don't eat meat Sokka." Aang sighed, "I'll just eat some fruit Momo brought us."

"Suit yourself Aang." Sokka said shrugging as he continued to eat.

The three ate in relative silence, only the occasional sound of Appa chewing loudly, and Sokka going through his food like a machine were heard. After a little bit, they finished, and Sokka leaned back on Appa and let out a sigh.

"Everything's going so well right now," He said, "I haven't felt this relaxed in years."

"Zuko said the same thing." Aang said, "when I was talking to him on his ship. I wonder how he is dealing with his uncle right now."

"I am sure he's fine." Sokka laughed, "He could keep his composure in almost any situation – remember that one time when he 'accidentally' saw the girls bathing?" He let out a howl of laughter, "Ah man, if he was still a fifteen year old kid I bet he would have bled out from embarrassment! But he just looked for a few seconds, turned around, and walked back to us, and told us he'd wait before he goes to take a bath."

"Wait, you knew about that?" Katara asked as she glared at her brother.

Aang laughed as well, "Oh yeah, Sokka told Zuko that the spring was open, so he went through the forest to get there, and then when he came back he gave Sokka a look." Aang tried to mimic it, "And just ignored us all night while… we…"

He stopped when he saw Katara's eye twitching dangerously, "I can't believe you'd do that to him!"

"Calm down Katara!" Sokka called out, "It never really happened!"

"Oh no you don't!" She bended some water and smacked him on the head, "I am not letting you get away with this like that!"

"He just seemed so depressed-"

"So you thought him seeing us naked would help him?" She shouted.

"Uh, you two have fun." Aang said as he got up and began to book it.

"I know you were involved Aang!" She shouted out to his retreating form.

"He's smart." He noted watching Aang get away, "Well, I guess I'll take a note out of his book and RUN!" Sokka rushed out of the area leaving an irate Katara behind.

"I am so going to tell Suki on you!" Katara yelled out, "Then you'll be sorry!"

Sokka decided to ignore her and follow Aang. They ran through the temple for quite a while until Sokka saw Aang stop. Upon coming closer, Sokka saw what had stopped the boy.

"Monk Gyatso," Aang said, kneeling down at the corpse of his long time friend, for the first time Aang got a good look at the remains, this time not having been blown apart by his unstable Avatar state, "It has been nearly thirty years since I last saw you, and even seeing your body like this now hurts."

Sokka walked up and put his hand on Aang's shoulder.

"This time, I swear to you that I will make up for my past mistakes, and I will save the world this time. It's my duty as the Avatar."

Sokka nodded in approval, and let go of Aang as the smaller boy reached down and grabbed at the object that was gripped in the fallen Monk's hand. It took a little bit, but Aang was able to reach the circular object out of Gyatso's death grip. It was a circular mirror, with the air nomad design circiling the entire edge of it. On the back was a large design of the four nations design.

"The Air Nomad's heirloom," Sokka noted, "What are you going to do with it?"

"We're in a new world Sokka," Aang muttered, "If we screw up again, we can go back to the past and fix our mistakes again. I think it will be smart to collect these as we come across them. That way we won't have to go gather them while the entire Fire Nation is following us around the world.

"I don't know. They could be damaged if they come with us. It'd be much smarter if you left it here Aang."

Aang contemplated it for a moment, "No, things will turn out differently this time around." He looked up at Sokka, "There's always a chance that it could be destroyed by the Fire Nation this time."

"Aang, that's really stretching it."

Aang looked down, "You're probably right."

"_Here's the first piece!"Suki shouted in excitement as Aang lifted it out of the rubble of the temple. "It's a mirror." She looked it at for a bit, "Not like any mirror I have seen though."_

_Aang smiled as he handed it to her, "We've all ready got the first of the four heirlooms, what does the scroll say about the others?"_

"_It's all in riddles." Suki sighed dejectedly._

"_Hey," Sokka said coming over, "I am great at riddles, let me take a shot at it!"_

_Aang watched his friends with a small smile. Even though it had been over a decade since Aang had lost to the Firelord, they still stuck around with him. Katara, Zuko, and Toph were all by Appa right now in a different part of the temple. _

"_Come on, let's go, we're just one eighth of the way done with gathering the objects needed to fix our mistakes." Sokka said, "I am sure the rest will want to see this – well, two of them would love to see it anyway."_

_Aang nodded as he followed the two out of there._

"Aang?" Sokka's voice called out.

Aang shook his head, "What? Oh, I'm sorry." He put down the mirror, "You're right, we should leave it here. I will go hide it where no one but I will know where it is."

"Good idea." Sokka said patting him on the back, "I will go calm down Katara, or just take her punishment for you."

"Thanks." Aang said as he zoomed across the temple to go hide the heirloom he had found.

At night, as Katara and Sokka were asleep, Aang went to lie down on Appa, and tried to sleep, but unfortunately, it did not come easy for him.

"I guess I will just stay up again." He sighed, laying down on Appa, "Katara's not going to be happy."

"No, I won't." He heard her say, making him jump from the sound.

"Katara? What are you doing up? It's late!"

"I could ask you the same thing." She said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, "Get to sleep."

"I can't." He admitted, "It just won't come to me."

He was surprised when he felt her sitting next to him, "That's ok, I guess I'll stay up with you."

Aang opened his mouth to protest, but closed it, knowing it was no use to argue over this. "All right, that's fine." He said giving in.

The two sat side by side, leaning on each other as they watched out for their camp site.

**Chapter two – End**

**Ending notes: **Sorry for so much fluff, it wasn't in the outline, but I just wrote what I felt the characters would do if they were in this situation. Furthermore, it's also difficult to keep the characters in character. In fact, I am positive that I am going OoC for a lot of them, and I am attempting to fix it.

Thank you for reading.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

"Wake up love birds!" Sokka shouted as he began to pack up the camp site. The three of them were still at the South Air Temple, but this morning they planned to go on to Kyoshi Island to see Suki _Please let her remember… _Sokka pleaded to the spirits as he continued his work around the camp.

Aang opened his eyes, and felt a weight to his right, he glanced over to see Katara leaning into him, and she was also waking up.

"It's so rare when I wake up before you guys, but then, I guess you just got a good night's sleep and all." Sokka continued, smiling at them as he packed the rest of his things.

"Sokka!" Katara burst forth, "You'd do the same thing with Suki! So you shouldn't antagonize us for it!"

Sokka moved the finger waving in his face, and turned around and waved his own hand dismissively, "Yeah yeah, I packed everything that we took off Appa yesterday, are there any last errands you need to do here?"

"Aang still needs to find the mirror."

"No," Aang finally stood up and stretched, "Sokka and I dealt with that yesterday when you were mad at us. We decided it was best to hide it here."

"Oh." Katara mumbled, "Well, I guess we're ready to head out then."

"All right! Kyoshi Island here we come!" Sokka cheered.

The three got on top of Appa a little bit later, and soon they were off flying to their newest destination. It took roughly two days to get there, each night they'd have Appa land on an island and rest, and early every morning they would fly off again. Sokka began to notice that Aang and Katara always slept on Appa together, but he chose to do nothing about it other than tease them. They were in their mid to late twenties – mentally anyway, so who was he to judge what her sister did at such an age? Even though she was technically a fourteen year old girl again…

Still, when he watched the two of them be together, he would miss Suki, and at night he wished she was with them to keep him company, and to practice with him, considering both Katara and Aang never used weapons when they fought. _At least Suki was willing to learn how to use a sword! _He would think to himself as he practiced by himself one day when they landed for the night.

Of course they'd all do his version of a warm-up, but after that they'd split up into their specialties, which meant Aang and Katara would more often than not practice waterbending with one another, and he would be forced to use a sword alone. It was lonely, but he never allowed them to know that he missed having a sparring partner, and most of all, he just missed having someone to spend time with like Aang did with Katara.

However, he knew at the moment his desires were not important, he had to continue to train, so he could be better prepared to save the world, and better prepared to help the Avatar. That was his goal, and the thing that kept him going on, the hope for a world without the constant threat of the Fire Nation.

On the third day, they landed on Kyoshi Island on the same beach they had landed on in the previous timeline. The only reason Aang knew that, he claimed, was because he remembered where he rode the Unagi. The sun was just about to reach its peak, meaning that it was roughly noon, so they had plenty of time that day to do what they needed.

"Let's train for a little bit then." Sokka said, "If the Kyoshi Warriors are any good, they will notice we're here within minutes and apprehend us."

"And hopefully Suki will be leading them." Aang said, speaking Sokka's unspoken desire.

"Yeah," Sokka said nodding, as he began to begin his warm-ups. He then noticed that Aang and Katara were both simply lying down on Appa, not doing anything.

"What are you two doing?"

"We've trained for the past couple of days." Aang said, "And what's the point of training if we're going to have to stop in a few moments?"

"You two," Sokka shook his head, "It doesn't matter, with what we have to face in the future; we should do everything in our power to prepare for it! Even if we work out for a few minutes, it's better than doing nothing!"

Katara hesitantly nodded, "You're right; I suppose we should be training as often as possible for the things we'll be facing soon."

Aang and Katara nodded, and sluggishly followed behind Sokka. Even though they knew the dangers, their drive to train themselves constantly was nowhere near Sokka's level of enthusiasm he had for training. They both knew it all started when Sokka got the sword, but to be fair, it was a welcomed change, and really helped out the group in the long run, so they trudged on, knowing that this was to better themselves.

Eventually they completed the warm-up, and everyone went to train in their respective specialty, Sokka with his sword, while Aang surprisingly decided to practice bending a few other elements, telling Katara that he needed to use them from time to time, to which she said she understood. She then went to the ocean and began her own form of training.

Another ten minutes passed, and Sokka briefly wondered if they should go into the town, but his train of thought stopped when as he swung his sword downward for maybe the hundredth time, a figure shot out of the tree line surrounding the beach, and intercepted the blade with a bladed fan. Sokka's thoughts, which had retreated to the back of his mind as he did the monotonous workout, came back immediately as he heard the clash of metal.

He took one look at the person in front of him, wearing the green armor, white and red face paint, and a huge grin covering her face. He couldn't help but smile himself as he swung his sword to the side, away from the fan, and tried to sweep the girl the girl off her feet with the flat edge of the blade, but she jumped over it, and continued her assault on him.

The two continued to evade each other's attacks, and if they were going to land a lethal blow, they were sure to pull back at the last minute, but it was never a needed precaution, both of the fighters never allowed themselves to be open like that. However, soon it was becoming apparent that both of them were getting tired, and eventually Sokka was the one to back and sheath his sword.

He then lets out a ragged breath, "I'm way too out of shape to be training for so long like that." He gasped out.

The girl nodded, "Yeah, you were always weak when you were a kid." She taunted, but it was half-hearted, for she was also feeling near exhausted. She put her own weapons away, and soon the two were staring at one another.

"Suki, it's so good to see you!" Sokka cried as he jumped forth and grabbed the girl in a tight hug, Suki did the same and both of them held each other in an embrace.

"I missed you too! I was so worried that you guys wouldn't remember!"

Aang laughed at that finally stepping towards the two of them along with Katara. He and Katara had watched from the side lines, knowing all along that it was Suki, and they knew Sokka would want to train with her for a little bit. "Sokka was worried sick that you wouldn't remember."

"Yeah, it was adorable." Katara added, teasing Sokka, but none of her words go through as Sokka continued the embrace.

Finally after a minute, the two let go, and Suki hugged Aang as well, "It's so good to see you guys again!"

"You too Suki," Aang said hugging the girl back, Katara and Suki also embraced one another before letting go.

"Well, you guys want to come to my village then? I'm sure they'll be happy to have the Avatar come here."

"Sure." Aang said, "But where are the other warriors?"

"I had them patrol the other side of the island, that way I can meet with you guys without them finding out that we secretly knew each other from a different time."

"Wouldn't they get a little suspicious though?" Katara asked.

"Yes," She admitted, "It is an odd order, especially since we do regular patrols around the island for training purposes, but since I came back I have been doing it like this so they wouldn't get too suspicious of me."

"Nice." Sokka replied, "But how did you know it was really 'us'?"

"Well," Suki said, faking a thinking pose, "The Sokka I remember always used a sword in combat, and if I'm not mistaken, that is a sword you're carrying with you."

Sokka laughed sheepishly, "Ok, that's a good point."

"Suki, won't the other warriors be suspicious that one of your solo patrols ended up finding the Avatar?" Katara wondered, "I just don't want you to get in trouble is all." She said when Suki glanced back at her.

"Yes, they will be, but in the end, there's nothing that will link me to being from the future, and I know you guys will not hut my people, so they will eventually come around."

"That's good to know." Aang sighed, "It would be horrible if you got in trouble because of us."

Suki laughed it off, "Please, Aang, I would have to commit high treason against this Island in order to get a punishment that would even remotely scare me."

Aang thought on that for a little bit, before shrugging, "If you say so."

It took less than ten minutes for them to reach the village, and once Suki walked towards the village with the Avatar and his friends, a crowd quickly began to form around them. Soon enough, the leader of the village, Oyaji came up to them, eyeing the new comers warily.

"Suki, who are these strange people you brought with you? You know we don't allow outsiders to come to our village."

"I apologize, but this boy here is the Avatar."

"The Avatar?" He said, looking at Aang with a critical eye, he stepped forward and walked around the boy, it was intense for the group, but it passed when the elder smiled, "if Suki believes you to be the Avatar, then I will not question her decision."

"Thank you." Aang said bowing low.

"Please, stay in our village for a little while." The man said, patting Aang on the back, "To see the Avatar again after such a long time brings forth hope which I have long forgotten."

"I will do my best to not cause trouble." Aang said, accepting the invitation.

Upon hearing of Aang being the Avatar, the crowd went wild, including a young man who burst forth, and began to foam at the mouth at hearing the news, before he collapsed to the ground. The people surrounding the man just ignored him, and continued to cheer for Aang.

After a little bit, the crowd began to push Aang around, and he was being pulled away from his friends. He looked back with a helpless look on his face, with a nervous smile as he was dragged across the village by his new fans… again. Katara walked after him, laughing the entire time, while Sokka was about to follow, but Suki held him back and made him follow her.

Soon, the two were at the dojo where Suki and her warriors would train, and as soon as they entered, Sokka grabbed Suki around the waist and pulled her into a kiss.

"I'm so glad you're with me." Sokka said as they pulled apart.

Suki doesn't even say anything, but just kisses Sokka again instead.

"Having fun Aang?" Katara laughed as the two entered the house that was set up for them, well in Aang's case he rushed in and nearly slammed the door in two when Katara entered right behind him.

Aang's gray eyes locked with Katara's, and he narrowed them at her, "You know I don't appreciate that much attention." He slid down the door, and let out a soft sigh.

"You should spoil yourself Aang." Katara said, the smile never leaving her face, "After all, you're giving this village hope after so many long years." He glanced out a nearby window, seeing the sunlight shine into the room, "You should appreciate it."

"Yeah," Aang muttered, "It's been hard for me to appreciate anything since-"

"Don't even start." Katara snapped, "If you go into one of your pity rants again, I will walk right out of here."

There was a very uncomfortable silence following the statement, but eventually Aang sighed, "Yeah, I know, you're right." He sat up and stretched, "I know you're right." He said again, "But it doesn't make it any easier to accept."

"Just go out there and have a good time like you did last time when we were here as kids."

"Have fun?" Aang questioned, "I barely remember what I did here, besides get eaten by the Onagi."

Katara chuckled to herself, "Well, you went out in town with all your new fan girls and began to let the fame get to your head while you had fun with them - I only remember because it's my first memory of me getting worried, angry, and maybe a tiny bit jealous all at the same time."

"I see." Aang said, "This time though, I'm not letting the fame get to my head, so I guess I'll just sit in here and, do something." He shrugged looking around. The house was very nice, but had little in the way of entertainment.

"I'll be honest Aang," Katara said, "I thought you were going to go right back out there and play with your fans while you still had the chance to do so."

This caused him to laugh, "I'll only do it if you come along."

Katara smiled, and the two leaned forward to kiss one another.

"Come on," Katara said as they parted, "Let's go into the village and have fun."

"Sure." Aang said, holding out his arm for her. She giggled as she interlinked her own with his, and the two walked towards the door.

Before the left though, Katara whispered, "You know, it's really weird, being one of the taller people of the group, and you being the smallest."

"Yeah, it's weird having to look up a little when talking with you now."

The two shared a smile as they walked out of the building.

"The Avatar is on this Island, I'm sure of it." Zuko said aloud on his ship when they came towards the Island. He had his crew drop the anchor a small distance away from the Island, so they wouldn't be alerted to their presence.

"Would you like to send out a group of men to retrieve the Avatar?" One of his men asked.

Zuko pretended to ponder the question, moving his eyes to the left, and a frown crossing his face. Finally, he looked forward in determination, "No, I'm going to go alone – disguised. That way I can be one hundred percent sure that the Avatar is really on the Island before we attack."

With that, he walked into the ship to his room, where he began to remove his armor, and found a cloak he could use to cover himself. He then looked up and grabbed his dual Dao swords. With that out of the way, he began to walk back out of the ship, but before he can get outside, he is intercepted by Iroh.

"Why do you want to go out there by yourself?"

"Because if I do go with more than one person, the Avatar will know, and be able to escape before I can do anything about it."

"That is true Prince Zuko, but I just ask because a week ago, you wouldn't have done this course of action. I don't know what changed you, but it seemed to have made you into a much more effective hunter." Iroh rubbed his beard, keeping an eye on Zuko as they exited the ship back out into the sunlight.

"I figure being subtle is the best way to go." Zuko said, again avoiding eye contact with his uncle.

"I have no doubt of that, Prince Zuko, but it's quite a stretch for your personality. If you haven't noticed, the men on board the ship have been keeping distance from you because of it."

"I have." Zuko sighed, "I have just been thinking a lot lately, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Iroh pressed on.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now I need to go before it gets too late." He said this while looking up at the sun, which was beginning to set on the horizon.

"Very well, please be careful."

"I will." Zuko said as he got into a smaller boat to travel to the Island on.

The crew launched it as soon as possible, and soon Zuko was heading towards Kyoshi Island. Back up on the main ship, Iroh was busy trying to decipher Zuko's odd behavior when he looked out in the distance, "Hm, what would another Fire Nation ship do coming here?" He pondered aloud, before shrugging and going back inside.

On the Island, Zuko began his trek to the village, using the increasing shadows from the waning sunlight as his cover. He darted from tree to tree, making sure to thoroughly examine everything before moving forward. The process, while effective, was not very time effective, and the Sun was all the way down before he even saw the lights of the village.

_They seem to be celebrating. _He noted, before getting closer. From the borders of the town, Zuko watched as people gathered around the newly painted monument of Kyoshi, and watched as they had a party. Not one to be in on the festivities, Zuko watching the crowd to see if you could find anyone familiar. Zuko was able to deduct that since the village was celebrating in front of the Avatar's previous reincarnation that he had to be there.

_Or I hope. _Zuko thought as he darted in between the houses, allowing the darkness to cover him. He watched the crowd from many angles, until finally he saw Sokka. The boy was happily chatting away with Suki as they walked away from the crowd of people, and then they turned and entered a very nice looking house.

_Bingo. _Zuko thought to himself as he swiftly darted from his house to the shadows of the house Sokka and Suki had entered, and he looked around for a window that he could enter.

Inside the house, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Suki was sit around in a small circle in the bedroom with candles surrounding them for light. Aang and Katara were both leaning on one another, while Sokka and Suki did the same, but it was obvious that Katara and Aang were bummed out that the other two got into the room so early.

"Look," Sokka sighed, "If you want Suki and I will go back outside and play around for another ten minutes while you two do whatever it was you were doing."

"No, we're fine." Aang said.

"That's good." Sokka nodded in agreement, "It's been bothering me, but Aang, remember your body's age, and try not to act on your mental age."

"Will do Sokka," Aang said blushing only slightly.

"Sokka!" Katara yelped, "Only you would say that while I'm still here!"

"Hey," Sokka said, "It had to be said, you two are still a little young for those kinds of things."

"And you and Suki aren't?"

Both Aang and Suki looked around, getting a little uncomfortable with where this was heading. They glanced towards one another and nodded, "Uh, Katara, I really don't mind. You don't need to make a big deal out of it." He said patting her arm.

She let out a sigh, and let up on her assault.

Suki coughed to regain their attention, "So anyway Aang, why aren't you out celebrating with the rest of the village?"

"I just don't like crowds." Aang said, looking uncomfortable again. Katara glanced sideways at Aang, knowing the real reason he didn't want to – his guilt, but if he didn't want to share his problem with the others, she wasn't going to tell on him.

"Oh." Suki said, before shrugging.

"Anyway, we need to start planning guys." Sokka said, "I was able to get this map thanks to Oyaji, so we can plan our moves with this." He put it down, "As you can see, there aren't many details on the Fire Nation on it, but I don't think we need to worry about that for a few more months. Now if you all remember last time, the comet arrived at the end of summer of next year. So that gives us a little less than nine months to act on our future knowledge before it happens."

As he said this, his audience went from laid back to very attentive.

"Here's where we are." He pointed to a small dot on the bottom of the map, "I don't remember everything we did, it was roughly ten years ago after all, but from what I do remember, we managed to fix a lot of problems along the way on our journey to the North Pole. So the question is, do you want to attempt to help these same people again?"

"Haru, Teo, the Freedom Fights," Katara listed from the top of her head, "We can't just leave them like that, we have to help them."

Sokka sighed, but had a small smile, "I knew you'd say that."

"I agree with Katara," Aang said, "We know the destinations, so we should do everything in our power to save these people, especially the ones who helped us during the invasion."

At the mention of the failed invasion, everyone seem to look down, the depressing mood was obvious to any who would enter the room.

"I guess you all really miss me."

Their heads snapped up as Zuko climbed in from the window, they were tense, but the moment Zuko took his hood off, everyone in the room relaxed, and Katara even smiled, "Zuko!" She said, getting up to go hug him.

"Hey," He said, hugging her back, "It's good to see you all again."

Once Katara had released him, he sat down in the circle the group had formed, and grabbed at a few candles that weren't lit. He touched the wick with his thumb and index finger, and a small spark later a fire came to life on it.

"I miss that so much." Sokka said, "It beats using rocks to try and get a spark to do it."

Suki laughed a little, making everyone look at her, "Sorry," She said, "It's just your hair Zuko."

"Yeah," He shrugged, "I don't like it a whole lot either, but I can't cut it off or else my uncle would really begin to suspect something is wrong."

"It sounds like he's all ready suspicious." Sokka pointed out.

"He is very suspicious." Zuko confirmed, "He is very perceptive, he notices every little thing I do differently, and I know he doesn't believe my explanations, but I have been doing my best to divert his attention away from it. I think I should tell him soon though."

Aang nodded, "We will soon," When everyone besides Zuko gave him a curious glance he added, "I'm going to tell King Bumi, he is my best friend, and I know he could help us."

"Are you two sure?" Katara asked, "It sounds risky to tell anyone."

"Don't worry; they are the only two who should know about it."

"I agree with them." Suki said.

"I guess that's settled," Sokka said shrugging, "we need to move on to things that need our immediate attention though, none of you guys have said anything about our secret, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good." He sighed, "Zuko, have you met Zhao yet?"

"No." Zuko nearly snarled, "I have been avoiding any confrontation with him since I got here. He shouldn't know that you exist yet Aang."

"That is good; it'll buy us some more time for planning." Sokka nodded approvingly.

"I think you guys should get Toph to join you as soon as possible." Zuko suggested, "She is probably going nuts knowing that we're all out here, all ready doing our parts, while she is stuck at her house."

Aang nodded, "Yeah, they're probably calling her helpless, and saying she couldn't harm a fly." He shuddered, "I think she's probably going insane."

"It's only been a week since we got back." Sokka said, shrugging, "I'm sure she's fine."

"Do you and I know the same person?" Katara asked.

"Fine, fine, you're probably right." Sokka said, "We should go get her as soon as possible."

"I just hope she stays there and doesn't try to run off." Suki said.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Zuko chimed in, "She is a smart girl, she knows that it's best if she just holds tight and waits for you guys."

"Ok," Sokka said, breaking into the conversation again, "The plan right now is to go get Toph as soon as possible, and then what?"

"We go to Omashu." Katara said, then she turned to Zuko, "You should start traveling to Omashu, its a little ways off the coast, but if you come with your uncle, and act like a refugee, then we can tell both Bumi and Iroh at the same time, and also plan what to do next."

"That sounds good to me," Aang agreed, to which everyone else sounded their agreement as well.

"Do you guys have an estimate on when you'll arrive in Omashu?"

"Considering it will take us about three days to reach Gaoling to get Toph," Sokka said looking at the map and mumbling to himself, he finally concluded, "About a week from now I would guess, and that is if we go at maximum speed and not run into any problems."

"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can." Zuko said, "I will be wandering near the main gate of the city so that I can spot you if I arrive there after I do."

"Sounds good, and we'll wait for you at the gates if we don't see you there," Sokka said, rolling up the map.

At that the group broke apart, with Katara heading outside, and Suki following her. Inside, the three boys sat near each other.

"I'm sorry I hit you so hard when we fought Sokka." Zuko said, "I explained it to Aang, but my men have seen me fight, and they know when I'm holding back."

"Don't worry about it," Sokka said waving it off, "It toughened me up. If you want though, we could duel each other on equal terms later on. It has been a while since I have fought you using your dual swords."

"It'll have to wait for a while, since I'm part of the Fire Nation after all."

"Right," Sokka said waving it off.

Outside Katara is stilling on the steps to the house and watching a full moon when Suki sat near her. Katara didn't even look at the girl, but just kept looking at the moon. Suki decided not to say anything, and just allowed herself to be absorbed into the atmosphere – the festival was coming to a close, the moon provided a decent amount of light, and it was very peaceful out. The only downside was that it was chilly outside.

Suki involuntarily shuddered at the thought, and envied Katara's decision to wear her fur coat. Finally, after a few minutes of this, she asked, "Do you plan on ever using Bloodbending this time?"

"No." Katara responded immediately, she seem to be hiding in her long hair at the thought, "I will never do something so horrible."

"What if it meant life or death?" Suki asked, pressing on, but she immediately regret it upon seeing Katara's fear-stricken face.

"Bloodbending is not something I plan to ever use, the feeling of having control of a person so thoroughly, able to end their life right there if I wanted…" She shook her head, "I don't want to think about it."

Suki nodded, "I'm sorry Katara, I don't know what came over me to ask something so insensitive."

Katara shook her head, "It's all right."

"So, uh, Toph," Suki started trying to change the subject before they were in an uncomfortable silence again, "Do you think Zuko wanted to go get her more than we did?"

Katara smiled, "Yeah, considering he saw us with Aang and Sokka, he probably feels a little left out."

"Were they ever officially together though?" Suki wondered aloud.

"They always claimed they didn't have an interest in one another, but it was obvious to anyone that they cared for each other."

"They were good for each other." Katara concluded, "Toph was very blunt in what she said, while Zuko was always really soft spoken."

"Yeah, they were practically opposites."

"Besides the fact that they are both rich beyond our imagination," Katara replied.

Suki nodded along, and the two stopped talking - Katara to focus on her thoughts, while Suki just decided to allow Katara to think for the time being.

Katara glanced at the moon again, _I will never Bloodbend, that's a promise. _

Their musings were stopped when suddenly the night sky began to light up far too quickly, and before they could even shout, a fireball started to descend towards the village.

"Fire Nation?" Katara shouted in surprise, "What are they doing here?"

The explosion from the fireball brought the boys outside to see what had happened. Zuko looked on in shocked, "I told my men not to attack!" He growled, but stopped when he noticed who was leading the force, "Oh no, these aren't my men, Aang, you got to get out of here!"

"Why, what is going on?" Aang said, watching the Fire Nation begin to go down the street on their Komodo Rhinos, and the one leading the attack, "Zhao." Aang muttered the name, memories of the hateful man coming to his head, "What is he doing here?"

"He must have followed me." Zuko said, cursing his stupidity, "I should have checked!"

"You can't do anything about it now Zuko, you have to go back to your ship, and if Zhao saw you here it would ruin all our plans!" Katara said gripping his shoulder.

Zuko looked down gritting his teeth, but finally let out a drawn out sigh, "You're right, I need to head back to the ship. Take care of Zhao for me."

With that he pulled his hood over his head and made a run for it, going into the woods, avoiding any onlookers. When he was safely away, the rest of the children looked at Zhao. Aang ran inside to grab his staff, Sokka pulled his sword out of his sheath, Suki grabbed both her fans, and Katara knelt down, ready to bend water when it was most needed.

"Remember, don't reveal too much of your power." He reminded them, though it was mostly directed at Aang and Katara. They agreed, and tensed as Zhao spotted them and made the beast riding him go over to them.

Zhao was as intimidating as he was in the previous lifetime, he held himself in high regard, not allowing even the Avatar to faze him. The burning fires all around him contrast with the darkness, creating shadows across his face that disorted it from a distance, making him look more like a demon than just the Firebending captain he currently was.

"An Airbender?" He said, first looking at Aang's clothing, and then at the mark covering his forehead, "That must mean you're the Avatar." His voice suggested that he was not very surprised to see him, "I figured following Zuko would be a smart idea, but to lead to this?" He laughed, "I will be rewards beyond my wildest dreams! Avatar, you're my prisoner now." Zhao began to come forth on his mount.

"Not if we can help it." Sokka said before jumping forward with his sword. Zhao reigned the Komodo Rhino in because Sokka could cause any damage, and the sword hit the beast, which, thanks to it tough skin, did little damage.

"Oh, a sword fighter then?" Zhao said mockingly, "Nothing compared to my ability to-"

He was stopped when Suki kicked him off the saddle of the beast, making him roll away, and the mount to run off. Zhao glared at the girl hatefully, "I swear we will destroy your village for that girl," He slowly climbed to his feet. That is when Aang and Katara both struck, Aang shooting the man with a blast of wind, while Katara threw her water in to the path of the wind, making the water form into little balls of ice. The wind carried the ice at such a speed that each on that hit him gashed his skin.

"I said no advanced stuff!" Sokka whined.

"I will not be outmatched by mere children!" Zhao yelled, rubbing blood off his cheek. Upon hearing the declaration, several soldiers got to Zhao's side to assist in fighting the Avatar and his friends.

"Aang, Katara, you two handle Zhao. Suki and I will handle the others."

"How are we supposed to fight him without using our more powerful techniques?" Katara said glaring at him.

"What?" Sokka sputtered, "That ice trick wasn't a 'powerful' technique?" He screeched, "You can do a little bit, but please try not to let on you're a master."

"If you kids are done whispering to one another, I would like to take the Avatar now." Zhao said walking towards them with several men behind him. The other Kyoshi Warriors were at various other spots on the island beating back the Fire Nation, and the villagers attempted to put out the fires that burned most of the houses, but it was tough when they would be shot on sight if they were caught attempting to do so.

"Now!" Sokka shouted, not allowing the horrid sight in front of them to freeze any of them.

Upon hearing Sokka's cry, Aang snapped out of the daze he got himself in upon looking at the village, and looked at Zhao, _No firebending, and no Earthbending._ He said making a mental note. He wanted Zhao to know he was strong of course, but he didn't want to give away the fact that he was all ready a fully realized Avatar in almost every regard.

Katara knew not to do anything too fancy, so she mostly stuck with the water whip and avoid Zhao's fire blasts when necessary. Aang too seem to be just avoiding his attacks rather than fighting directly, like a true Airbender. The two weaved around his attacks, and only struck when the man would stop shooting fire at them to catch his breath. It was slow work, but they were tiring the man down.

Meanwhile, Sokka and Suki were handling their own on the Soldiers that came to assist Zhao. Unlike Sokka, Suki didn't have to hold back her prowess, because she had a legit excuse as to why she was so good. Sokka on the other hand, had to resort to using tricks so the enemy Firebenders wouldn't catch on that a master swordsman was traveling with the Avatar.

He and Suki would fight side by side, back to back, and cover each other from any angle. They had developed a sort of bond with each other when they fought, a bond that formed after a decade of fighting with one another during spars, and against the enemy. Between the two of them, there were no blind spots. It was tough, and the constant heat from the Firebending was making him sweat even more so than he usually would from just swinging around the heavy sword, but he and Suki were doing incredibly well.

It became apparent to all the time travelers though, that this was not the same invasive force that Zuko had once used to get the island in the previous life. While they were Fire Nation, the amount of men was easily ten times more than Zuko had used to attack the village with, and more frighteningly, unlike Zuko's force, these men wouldn't just leave if the Avatar left, Zhao lacked the honor Zuko had in that case.

"This is bad, really bad." Sokka said, looking at the burning village, "Suki, there's only one way we can fix this - if Aang goes all out, and even then I don't know if it'd be enough." He said worriedly.

"You guys have to get out of here." She said as she beat another soldier down.

Sokka twisted around her to deflect a sword strike going for her, and then both of them jumped away from a fireball, "There is no way I'm leaving you here Suki." He said instantly.

"You have to protect the Avatar." She said matter of factly.

"And I have to protect you."

The two parted for an instant to avoid another blast of fire, before they came close again to cover each other, "I can handle myself!"

"Not with these odds." Sokka whispered.

"Maybe, but it's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make." She said.

Sokka jabbed his sword out and disarmed his opponent before hitting the man's helmet with the broad side of his sword, knocking the man unconscious, "I'm not going to let them have you again."

Suki was both annoyed, and flattered by Sokka's protective nature, but even she knew that he had to leave, and quickly. The Fire Nation had all ready captured a huge amount of her warriors, and they were narrowing closer and closer to Aang and Katara. Soon it would only be her and Sokka protecting the Avatar from the onslaught.

"Sokka, please." She tried one last time.

"Suki..." Sokka looked at her, and then at the chaos going on around them. He knew that they were outnumbered, and he also knew at this rate that even Aang using his full power, along with him and Katara wouldn't even the odds. One of the most important parts of being a strategist was when to know when to retreat, and at that instant, Sokka made the most incredibly difficult decision of his life.

"Can you and your warriors hold them off a little longer while I go get Appa?" He finally said, "I will pick up Aang and Katara with him, and if I can I will try to save you."

It was pointless to try and save her if she was one of the last things holding off the horde of men trying to take the Avatar, for the amount of Fire that would shoot at Appa would drive him far away, but Suki smiled despite the situation around them, and she leaned in to kiss Sokka one last time, "Good bye, for now." She said.

"Yeah..." Sokka muttered, before darting off into the woods. Appa was still there along with Momo, and as soon as he came upon the two animals, they were all ready up and about, as if waiting for him to come, "Come on guys, we need to get out of here, now."

Appa let out a roar, and didn't even wait for Sokka to say anything before he took off towards the village. Momo came and sat on Sokka's shoulder, as they flew through the air. Upon seeing the flames of the village, Appa seem to hesitate for a moment, but the beast beat down its fear of fire quick enough to locate Aang.

"Aang, come on!" Sokka shouted, causing the boy to jump in surprise, he looked up to see Sokka on Appa.

Aang glanced over to Katara, and with his glider, ran over to her, she immediately knew what he was going to do, so she wrapped her arms around his neck, and then Aang with a burst of air, boost himself through the air and onto Appa. Sokka got out of the saddle, and allowing Aang the position, as he went to the back of the saddle and threw his sword away from his body down to the saddle as he covered his face with his hands.

Aang looked down at the last remaining fighters of the village, Suki and just two others. When Suki glanced up, she offered Aang a sad smile, and like that, she lowered her guard, with the other two following her lead after a second.

"No." Aang whispered, but knew it was far too late to even attempt to save her. He looked away and flew off.

It was very quiet as they continued to fly, and it was Katara who broke it, "Sokka, I'm so sorry."

"I don't want your pity Katara," He mumbled, his face still covered.

She looked on sadly, but didn't say anymore. She only crawled over to Sokka and wrapped her arms around him. He didn't move, but she knew he appreciated it.

Aang looked back, and allowed a small smile at Katara's action. He then looked ahead, knowing where they were going to head to next: Gaoling, to get Toph Bei Fong.

"GO GO GO!" Zuko shouted at the top of his lungs as he reached the ship, "That idiot Zhao invaded the village and made the Avatar leave! We have to hurry and follow him!"

"Zhao? So that's whose ship I saw coming." Iroh said to himself.

Luckily for him, Zuko didn't hear him say that, or chose to ignore it. Regardless Zuko continued to shout orders, and after a little bit he goes into his room, slamming the door behind him. He put his swords away, and went to lie down on his bed, awaiting the trip to Omashu.

Back on Kyoshi Island, Zhao walked down a line of Kyoshi Warriors, glaring each of them in the eye, before stopping in the center. He turned the women, and glared at them, but none of them looked away.

"You girls have made yourselves enemies of the state," He started, "for allowing the Avatar to get out of my grasp. The punishment for this crime is death." He said, yet none of the girls looked scared at the prospect.

"However," He said after a few moments, "I'm a... very forgiving man." He said with a vile smile, "And I will allow you all to rot in prison instead." He looked to the men holding the warriors, "Take them away, to some place where they will lose all hope, and where their pretty little faces will be permanently scarred." He snarled viciously.

At that the warriors were taken away. The villagers looked on silence, not wanting to cause the wrath of the man in front of them. Zhao turned to them at that moment, and smiled, "This is what the Avatar has brought to your peaceful little village, destruction, hopelessness, and the loss of your praised fighters." He grinned at them, "I hope this has taught you a valuable lesson. Do not hide the Avatar from the Fire Nation, or else our wrath will come down upon you."

"Now get back to your pathetic lives, but know from this day forth, that Kyoshi Island is now Fire Nation territory. I have sent the letter to the Fire Lord, and I expect the occupational forces to come soon. If in any way you resist, even one of you, I will personally see to it that I destroy all life on this rock."

At that, Zhao left the broken and battered village to chase after the Avatar.

**Chapter three - End**

**Ending Notes:** I hope you all enjoyed that. The last bit with Zhao was not in my outline, but I decided that it was an awesome idea, so I went with it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. See you all next time!


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

"It seems we have a guest Prince Zuko." Iroh said from the left side of the boy, as they looked out at the ocean at the oncoming ship. The morning sun reflected off the black metal of the ship, giving it a smoky black color instead of just the plain black that it usually was.

However, seeing Zhao's ship did not concern Zuko in the least. Since yesterday, he had been going slow intentionally so Zhao could catch up with him, and he intended to shake the man off so he could begin going to his destination as soon as possible and make it there on time. His mind came back to the situation at hand, and he narrowed his eyes dangerously as the ship continued its course towards his own.

"I know." Zuko said.

"Should we stop the ship?" Iroh asked, "Zhao is not the kind of man we should be messing with. If anything, we should let him come and leave as soon as possible."

"Yeah," Zuko agreed with him.

Zuko turned around and shouted orders to the crew to stop the ship quickly. The crew did as they were told, doing it quickly and efficiently. Soon, the small Fire Nation vessel came to a halt in the water, only for a much larger ship to stop itself at its side. Soon, a ramp was lowered from the bigger ship down to Zuko's ship, and Zhao came walking down the path, with two other soldiers following behind him.

"It's good to see you again Zuko." He said upon seeing the boy, "And I see your boat is in good condition."

"What is it you want?" Zuko said, not having to force his anger on this man.

"I will get to the point. I have found the Avatar by following your ship. Due to your incompetence, he has escaped. I demand you stop your pursuit of the Avatar and instead allow me to do so instead."

"I was the one who made him escape?" Zuko shouted, "If it weren't for you I would have captured him! I was in the village under a disguise! I could have easily taken him in his sleep, but no! You had to come and invade the entire place!"

"Thankfully, my failure to capture the Avatar will hopefully be seen lightly when the Fire Lord sees that I conquered the Island for him."

Zuko felt the pit of his stomach go cold, "You conquered it?"

"Of course. Their fighters, the Keshi, no, Koshi, Kyoshi – ah yes, that's it! Their Kyoshi Warriors were protecting the Avatar, and in the end, are the ones who defended the Avatar so he could escape on his flying monster. I declared that treason to the Fire Nation, and arrested them all."

"They were never part of the Fire Nation." Zuko said silently.

"Oh, I think the occupational forces there will tell you differently." Zhao said with a smirk on his face.

"You've gone lower than I could have imagined if you put a bunch of kids to death for defended the Avatar." Zuko noted.

Zhao glared down at the boy, "I did not put them to death, I just sent them to a concentration camp in the Earth Kingdom. I am sure they'll enjoy their time there."

Zuko was very quiet, in fact, he felt like his could throw up in any minute. If Suki was taken there, the chances of her ever seeing Sokka again were close to nothing if she stayed there very long. He knew she was a strong girl, but even the horrors of that camp would break her. Zuko had only heard of the place occasionally from other higher ranked officers at the Fire Nation camps along the Earth Kingdom coast, but none of them have been good.

"You have changed Zhao." Zuko finally said calmly, "You have even less honor than I imagined."

"Whatever, you know nothing of honor." Zhao said, looking decisively bored.

"You are not welcomed on this ship." Zuko said, not allowing Zhao's actions to get to him, "Get off now."

"If you give me your word that you will not pursue the Avatar, I will do as you ask."

"No. Now get off my ship."

"You need to learn respect for your superiors; I guess that scar has taught you nothing has it?" Zhao said, taunting Zuko.

Iroh, sensing a near explosion coming from his nephew came between the two of them, "Please gentlemen, can we talk over a cup of tea, before this becomes a confrontational situation?"

Zuko glared at Zhao, but looked away, "There's no need uncle, there's no situation here unless if Zhao refuses to leave my ship." He turned to his crew, "Prepare to leave men, we're going to continue chasing the Avatar."

"Damn you boy!" Zhao shouted, "You will respect my orders!"

"You have no control over me."

"Then I challenge you to an Agni Kai over it." Zhao said, smiling as he knew Zuko would rise to the bait of this.

Zuko was walking to the bridge of his ship when he stopped. He was technically a master Firebender, and he knew that he had a good chance of beating Zhao, knowing the man's highly renowned temper. However, he could not reveal his abilities, not yet, not in front of so many witnesses, he had given his uncle enough reasons to be suspicious of him all ready. He finally turned around and looked at Zhao.

"Zuko, please, don't fight. Zhao is a strong opponent, and you are not obligated to fight." Iroh said next to the boy.

"I won't." He confirmed, "Now get off my ship Zhao." He said one last time before turning his back to Zhao and walking away.

"You don't have a choice!" Zhao shouted as he stepped forward and punched his fist out, sending a fireball straight at Zuko's back. However, Iroh quickly intercepted the attack, and turned an angry eye at Zhao.

"You would attack an opponent who is not even facing you Zhao?" Iroh yelled, "I would have thought that you had more honor than to do something so cowardly!"

Zhao looked at the old man, and then growled as he looked to Zuko, but finally looked away. He said nothing as he began to get off the ship and yell order to his own men. Soon, the ramp between the ships was gone, and Zhao was going full speed in the direction Zuko was going.

Zuko hadn't moved from his current position, not out of fear, but out of shock and uncertainty. He recalled from his past that he had fought Zhao in an Agni Kai, and he also remembered the time that the Fire Nation invaded Kyoshi Island. He carried out both acts in the previous timeline, but the fact that they had happened again, even if slightly differently bothered Zuko so much that it frightened him.

_No, there's no way that history will have to repeat itself. _He thought to himself for comfort, _Remember why we came back – to fix our mistakes._ He breathed in and out, allowing his running mind to calm down so he could focus on what was going on at the moment. Suki got taken prisoner again though, and that really got him concerned. It was far too early in this timeline, but it had happened…

"Uncle, where is the concentration camp that Zhao mentioned?"

Iroh was quiet for a moment, "I don't know if you would want to go there Nephew, it's a dark side of our nation."

"There's no light side." Zuko whispered. Thankfully his uncle did not catch it, "I want to know."

"It is actually on the path to Omashu, near the port that we'd go to, to reach the city." He said after a few seconds, "Tell me Zuko, what makes you so interested in it all the sudden?"

Zuko was silent for a few seconds before sighing, "Nothing uncle. Thank you for telling me. I am going to go in my room. I trust that you'll lead the ship to port."

"Of course," Iroh said, watching Zuko go into the ship with concern.

Aang sat on the saddle very bored, but kept quiet. Even though it had been a little over three days since they left Kyoshi Island, the mood that had set once they left the island had yet to leave. Sokka was still very depressed, and it affected the rest of the group. Usually it was Sokka who would make the trip more light hearted, but with him sulking and brooding most of the time, it caused their interactions at all on the flying bison to be very awkward. Even Appa and Momo seem to understand what had gone on, neither did anything to disturb Sokka.

Sokka didn't train when they landed like he had been doing for almost a week previously, and he wouldn't eat much. It was a big reaction to leaving Suki behind, but when it came to Zhao, it was understandable to why he was so miserable.

Thus, it came as no surprise that when Aang spotted Gaoling he smiled, knowing that he could finally get away from the depressing atmosphere for a little while. While he knew it was mean-spirited to be happy to leave Sokka, he just had to get out of the place for a few hours to get some breathing room. Even Katara visibly relaxed when the town came into view.

"We're in Gaoling." Aang said, breaking the silence.

Sokka didn't even look up to observe, but Katara looked around at the village surrounded by mountains, "It's still as beautiful as I remember." She said.

"Yeah…" Aang mumbled.

Again they fell into silence until they landed at the outskirts of the village, then they unpacked a few things just in case. When that was done, Aang assessed the camp and nodded.

"Sokka, would you mind staying here to guard camp while Katara and I go see Toph?"

"I don't care." Sokka said dismissively waving his hand.

"Please, try to take care of yourself." Katara said to him, before hugging her brother, and walking to town with Aang.

When they got far enough, they both let out a breath they didn't realize they had been holding. Katara let out a small huff, "I wish he'd snap out of it."

"Yeah."

"I mean, it has been three days! I have been doing almost everything for him! Even hunting some animals for him and skinning them!" She stuck her tongue out in disgust, "Ack! He doesn't care though, it's as if he is dead to the world! I know Suki is important to him, and I mean, I completely understand that, but he has to snap out of this soon. Right now he's a liability to your journey." She let out all the anger she had been feeling towards the Fire Nation and Sokka right in those few sentences.

"Feel better now?" Aang asked.

"Much."

"Though Katara," Aang began, "Sokka just lost the one he loves most. I know you lost your mother." Aang winced as Katara looked down at the words, "And you must know what it feels like. It's a horrible feeling. I got it when I realized I was the last Airbender all those years ago, and I get it every time I get separated from you for long periods of time. However, Sokka just lost Suki to Zhao. I don't know if you remember him or not, but he was the one who killed the moon spirit. He is ruthless, and to be honest…" He stopped, and blinked rapidly, "I don't know what horrible things he'll do to Suki, or the island. Last time it was Zuko who attacked, and he left when I did, but if one becomes an enemy of Zhao…"

Katara listened to everything he said, "I know you're right, I've known that all along, but I just want to hope for the best. I wish he'd put up a strong front for us instead of just completely breaking apart like this."

Aang didn't respond to that, "Just don't say anything to him that you'll regret later, ok? He has been going through a lot lately, and he doesn't need to think you're against him too."

"I know, I know. It's just, that it's so depressing to be around him…"

"I agree." Aang admitted. Neither said any more as they made their way into the village, following the main road down the paved street. It was a very nice place, both Aang and Katara marveled at the village.

"I forgot how nice it was here." She said, looking around.

"Yeah, it's very expensive looking; I almost don't want to walk on this road."

Katara rolled her eyes and continued walking, leaving behind Aang's inner turmoil. Aang rushed back to her, with a smile on his face.

Both of them put their plight in the back of their mind for now, instead they resigned to just have a good time with one another and try to cheer Sokka up somehow later. Even though it was a temporary fix, they both felt a huge wave of relief when the topic was put aside so they could be with one another without it dampening their spirits. They looked around the town, and they attempted to keep up the upcoming good mood by commenting on random things – clothes people wore, the weather, how wealthy a lot of these people were, buildings, and many other things as they distracted themselves.

However, they soon came across one building, that caused them to stop. It was an open gate, and inside was a courtyard where a bunch of children were learning Earthbending. It was Gaoling's Earthbending academy, or, as Toph usually referred to it: 'Pay me money so I can teach you almost nothing'.

"Hey, I remember this place." Aang said.

When the instructor of the academy came into their sight, both children involuntarily shuddered, "Yeah, I remember it too. That is the guy who chased after Toph, right?" Like before, the man wore rich looking clothing, and had very odd looking facial hair.

Aang thought for a quick moment, "I think so, what was his name again?"

Before Katara could reply, the man saw both of them standing in front of the establishment, and wasted no time in rushing over to them, "Hello! I am Master Yu! Would both of you like to take lessons on how to Earthbend? The first lesson is absolutely free!"

"I am truly sorry, but I am a Waterbender."

"And I refuse your offer; I have to go do some other things."

"That is unfortunate." The man sighed shaking his head, "I can tell you'd be my master pupil, and I was even thinking of giving you a discount because of that." He said, crossing his arms, and opening his eyes slightly as he looked down at the boy with a frightening smile.

As if on cue, two boys walked out of the Academy laughing with one another, "I learned so much today here!" He started.

At that point Katara stopped, knowing it was an act to try to get Aang to joining. _Thankfully he isn't buying it. _Katara thought to herself, watching Aang raise an eyebrow at the display, and a faint amused smile on his lips She then grabbed Aang's shoulder.

"Come on Aang, let's get out of here."

"Oh, you're not seriously going to let a _Waterbender_ take you away are you?" The two boys asked Aang as he began to leave with her.

"Well, she's pretty smart," Aang said, feigning ignorance to the entire act, "And I do see that this place is so very, uh, good and all, but I think I should take her lead."

"Man, you're being whipped." The one to the right said, "I feel so bad for you. If some girl did that to me, I think we'd be separated… by a few miles at least after I launch her into the air." The two kids Katara's age laughed as they gave each other a high five.

Master Yu rolled his eyes, but pretended to go back into the Academy. He then watched the rest of the display, hiding in a very obvious spot, poking his head out the gate every few seconds to see what was going to happen.

"You don't explain the joke." Aang sighed, "That is the number one rule Sokka always told me. You should have just ended it at 'by a few miles', but you kept going and explained why you were separated by that long a distance, instead of letting us come to our own conclusion."

The two boys stopped their laughing and looked at Aang dumbly, but snapped out of it, "Whatever. I would believe you more if you joined the Academy for a lesson to show us what you're made of. Drop the girl and join us for a little bit."

At this Katara got annoyed. These morons kept talking as if she wasn't there, and it was driving her mad. "You two know I am here right?"

"What of it?" One of them laughed, "Going to splash me with some water?"

Katara's eye twitched, but she forced herself to calm down; _they're only ignorant, stupid, moronic children. I can handle them… _She let out a breath, "No, we're leaving now."

"Have fun with your _girlfriend_!" The two boys laughed, as if they had just told another joke, before walking back into the academy, leaving a confused Aang behind.

"I don't get it." He finally said, "Was that supposed to be an insult?"

"Just forget about them," Katara said, "I get a headache just thinking about those two moronic kids. And did Yu really think we would believe the act they tried to pull before we set them off on a tangent?" She let out another annoyed huff, "I can't believe how stupid some kids can be to think he is actually teaching them anything."

Aang laughed a little, but otherwise didn't say anything else.

The rest of the way to their destination occurred quietly, but thankfully for both of them, unlike earlier; their situation with Sokka was currently forgotten at the moment, allowing them to be much more at ease. The town, while wealthy, wasn't the biggest village, and the two of them came across the Bei Fong estate within a few minutes of wandering the place. The high walls were the first give-away, but perhaps the biggest was the picture of the winged pig.

"Well, how are we going to see Toph?" Katara asked, looking up the wall.

"I can Airbend over and search the backyard." Aang suggested.

"I guess that makes sense." Katara mumbled, "What would Sokka say…" she thought, bringing back memories of Sokka's currently situation. She bit her lip, but continued to think, "we should not meet her parents," She though aloud, "Because that way, they won't know it's the Avatar who 'kidnapped' their daughter, and they won't send anyone after us."

"Good idea - your inner Sokka is pretty smart." He said giving her a smile, before they wandered around the wall to a spot where no one in the village would see Aang Airbend over it. He jumped up a few times to make sure no guards were there, and then he finally turned to Katara, "I'll be right back, stay here."

She let out a sigh, "I'm only agreeing to this because there's no way I can go in with you and get out as fast as you can."

Aang laughed and gave her a quick kiss, "You shouldn't worry so much!"

"Whatever." She said, but Aang could see the light smile playing across her face.

Aang then jumped over the wall, and into the gigantic garden of the estate, and wandered around stealthily, rushing from bush to bush, and peeking his head out to looking around before moving to another area of the garden to repeat the same action.

"You know there's usually no guards back here unless if I call them myself."

Aang jumped from the voice coming behind him, but then he turned around, his eyes widening, "Toph!"

"Nice to hear you too Aang," She said, punching him on the arm, "I sensed you walking around outside the wall, but I wasn't sure if it was you or not. I am so used to our older body's footsteps. Though I should have known it was you, only an Airbender is that light on their feet."

Aang laughed rubbing the spot where she had hit him, and he hit her back in the arm, albeit a lot softer than she did, but the message was clear.

"I am so glad to see you again Toph." Aang then wrapped his arms around the girl, unable to resist.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nice to meet you again too." She said, patting him on the back.

As they parted Aang looked around, "How's the royal life treating you?" He tried his best not to laugh at her dress, but it was proving to be very difficult.

"Royal?" Toph laughed, "I miss my parents, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing royal about having to sit around looking pretty for their occasional guests, and very rarely do I get to train with Yu." She giggled slightly, "I have decided to just mess around with him this time. Every time he tries to teach me something new, I always 'mess' it up and end up hurting him."

"Sounds just like you Toph." Aang said smiling.

"So tell me, why did you come so early this time around? As you can see, it's pretty cold here during winter. I figured you all would wait until spring like last time and get me during the tournament. I had so many ideas for what to do to you when you volunteered to fight me this time."

"You have forgiven me for beating you that one time, right?" Aang asked, sounding nervous.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Ok, I am just impressed that you'd remember something so trivial like that." He admitted.

Toph laughed, "I remember a lot of things other people would think useless."

"Right, so anyway, to answer your original question: The reason we're coming for you so early is because you're a vital part of our team, and to have an Earthbender to help us would be invaluable in a few of the things we plan on doing, and as a Metalbender, you're perhaps the most important person of our team Toph – you can easily disable a Fire Nation weapon of war."

"Don't sell yourself short." She said after the description, "but you are right, I am amazing. Just one thing though, do you plan on going to the North Pole."

"I don't think we intend to, and if we do anything there it'd just be to convince them to help the Southern Water Tribes like they did before. I also might go there and hang out for a little bit, just so I have an excuse for my ability to use Waterbending at a master's level, but other than that, we hope to prevent the siege from happening."

"Good." Toph sighed, "I hate the ice."

"Oh, yeah, you're right." Aang said after thinking a little bit.

"Just one problem about how I am going to get away: my parents. Like before they won't let me do anything, and I think if we even told them I was the key to saving the world as we know it they wouldn't allow it, because it could hurt me." She made a mocking laugh, "urgh, I miss them, and then when I come back it's just, Argh!"

"You have to remember that you're back to square one with them." Aang reminded, "They haven't missed you after you ran away and came back again like you did before. I am sure given enough time away from you that they will come around again."

"You sound cruel." Toph smiled, "taking some parents poor baby away from them, oh Avatar, you are so different than I imagined."

Aang rolled his eyes, "I don't take pleasure in hurting your parents, the world just really needs you Toph."

"All right, meet me out here later tonight. That gives me the rest of the day to pack up for the trip, and gives me time to talk to my parents one last time."

"Ok, is there anything else you want to know before I head out?"

"Yeah, there is." Toph said, "Did everyone else come back too?"

"Yeah, all six of us did." Aang confirmed.

"How is Zuko doing?"

"Uh, he is doing fine I guess. He's still with the Fire Nation to be our inside spy, and he's having a hard time being with Iroh again, but he's otherwise doing a good job."

"Did he seem sad about seeing his uncle again?"

"Sad? No, I think he just feels guilty about how he treated his uncle at this point more than anything."

"Figures, that sounds just like him."

Aang wondered why she was asking so much about Zuko, but then remembered that the two had started a relationship with one another a few years before they went back in time (No matter how much each of them denied it), after Zuko got over his depression over the death of Mai. _Now that brings a few complications_, Aang thought, wondering how Zuko was going to deal with Toph and Mai, but he shook the thought off for now. Better to be thinking about the now rather than the future.

He answered a few more questions before Toph finally relented on the Zuko questions.

"Is there anything else I should know about everyone else?"

Aang paused on that, "Yes, I suppose there is."

"Well, spill it out."

"Suki was captured by the Fire Nation." He just came out and said it as blunt as possible like Toph would have.

"Seriously?" The girl asked her voice very quiet.

"Yes, a man named Zhao, someone you've never met-"

'I have heard stories about him." She insisted, "I know how he acts."

"Instead of Zuko invading Kyoshi Island he did. He captured every warrior on the Island I am sure, and imprisoned them all, or worse. I am worried for Suki," He admitted.

Toph took it in, "I imagine Sokka isn't taking it well?"

"Not at all." Aang confirmed, "He is in a state of depression, but it makes flying with him, camping, and everything around him almost unbearable. He barely ate in the last few days, and he is not taking care of himself anymore."

"He should be stronger than that." Toph sighed.

"I don't know," Aang mumbled, "if someone like Zhao took Katara, I would be furious. I wouldn't let anyone leave with her, even if it cost me my life. For Sokka to leave her behind like that… It probably killed him on the inside to do that."

Toph was quiet, "You're right." She then shook her head, "meet me here tonight; I think you should go calm down Katara now, she's pacing herself into the ground behind the wall." She said pointing in the direction the other girl was.

Aang chuckled, "All right Toph, see you later."

At that Aang Airbended over the wall and landed next to Katara, who didn't even jump as he appeared, she let out a sigh, "I take it you found her?"

"Yep, she'll be coming with us later tonight."

"Good, that will give her time to pack things and say good bye to her parents - indirectly anyway." Katara said with a sigh.

"She asked a lot about Zuko." Aang said with a smile, "I guess they really did care for each other, even if they didn't show it much."

Katara smiled at that, "That's so sweet."

Aang felt bad about what he was going to say next though, "I also told her about Sokka and Suki."

"I guess she should know about it…" Katara sighed.

"I felt the same way about tell her." Aang said, "But I knew she had to know since she was traveling with us. I explained it to her, so I don't think she'll confront Sokka about it immediately, but I do think she'll eventually do something if he continues on like this."

The two wandered into the village quietly, before Aang sighed shaking his head, "Want to look around for a little bit before we go back to camp?"

Katara smiled, "Maybe we can find something for Sokka to cheer him up."

Aang nodded, and the two began to browse around the village's market. Of course, being the wealthy village it was, everything was expensive, a little too much in their case. They had money, but they were saving it for when they truly needed it, and spending it on anything here felt like such a waste for them.

"Hey, kids, over here." A shop vendor called out. Aang and Katara looked over at him and had to physically hide their grimace by coughing. The man was not the prettiest person to look at, his hair was very greasy going down his shoulders, and he was missing one eye, and the smell! Aang and Katara tried their best not to gag when they came over to him, to be polite more than anything else.

"I've got all sorts of things for sale," He said sweeping his hand above his cart full of small stones, gems, and various other assortments of goods.

Aang and Katara glanced up at each other, and shrugged, taking a minute to look at the things before they backed away, "No thanks." Aang said, "We're not interested."

"Bah! You wouldn't know real treasure if it hit you in the face!" The man noted the arrow on Aang's forehead at that moment, and his eyes involuntarily widened for a moment before he returned them back to the kids, "Get outta here!"

Katara and Aang didn't need to be told twice as they ran a little ways from the cart before they slowed down and looked back.

"That man was one of the most disgusting looking people we've met." Katara decided.

"Yeah, he smells almost as bad as we do when we travel for a week without cleaning at all." Aang shuddered at the mere thought of it.

Unfortunately for the two of them, they couldn't find anything that they thought Sokka might enjoy, so they finally went back to their camp for the night, hoping in vain that Sokka would be in a lighter mood. Of course, when they got there, they saw Sokka sitting on top of Appa where he had been when they left, he hadn't moved a single inch in any direction.

"Hello Sokka!" Aang called out, "We found Toph, and we need to wait until it's night, then we'll go get her."

Sokka nodded along, "Right."

"Are you feeling better?" Katara asked, but she all ready knew the answer to that question.

He did not answer, only looking away.

"Please Sokka, you need to snap out of this." His sister nearly begged, "You're the one who plans our course, we need you."

Sokka again just ignored her.

Now Katara was getting angry, but she remember what Aang said, and let out a long winded sigh, "Fine Sokka, if you want to angst around all day, so be it!"

Aang slapped his forehead, knowing right there that this wasn't going to end well. He knew she said it dismissively, but it caught Sokka's attention, who turned to glare at his younger sister.

"Katara, you need to learn when to shut up!"

"What?"

"I just lost the one I loved - my wife - to Zhao! Who knows what that monster has done to her? She could be dead for all I know, and if not, maybe she's dying! I have no clue where we can find her, so I can't plot out a rescue mission like before! You need to learn when to shut your mouth Katara!" He let out a frustrated yell, "You have never lost Aang, so don't antagonize me when I 'angst' over Suki!"

Katara's eyebrow twitched, "Never lost Aang?" She asked, "You're kidding right? You must have forgotten when he nearly died twice before, or all the times he has gone missing! I was sitting next to his side, unsure whether he'd live or die! How dare you say that to me?"

"Yeah, and I remember giving you room when that happened! So give me the same courtesy!"

"You're kidding, right? You were always trying to get me to go outside to get fresh air, telling me to get away from it for a while! I am only doing the same for you because I love you!"

"Well I don't need your love right now!"

The two locked eyes, glaring at one another.

"Guys, please!" Aang said, not expecting it to spiral out of control to this extent, "We can't argue with one another! There's more important things to do than get mad at each other!"

"Hey," Sokka said, raising his hands as if he were innocent, "Katara started it, tell her that."

That was the last straw, Katara formed a whip of water and smacked Sokka across the head with it before returning it back to her pouch. Aang smacked his forehead again and let out a groan, while Sokka grabbed his sword and jumped out of the saddle. He unsheathed his sword, and the two of them faced one another, obviously beyond angry.

"You two will stop this immediately!" Aang shouted, his voice was booming loud due to his Airbending, "You're siblings! You shouldn't fight like this!"

The two looked at one another, and slowly it dawned on them what exactly they were about to do. Katara broke her stance, and couldn't even look at Sokka or Aang because she felt so ashamed, and Sokka wasn't doing any better. He was constantly berating himself in his mind for allowing himself to go so far to even attempt to fight his sister! They both went to opposite sides of their camp without saying a word, not looking at one another, both too deep in their shame and misery to care.

Aang let out another groan, _How are we supposed to save the world when we can't even work together? _He shook his head as he went up to Appa, and leaned against the Bison's head, MomoF took that time to look out of the saddle, and seeing that it was all clear, made his way over to Aang as well.

Zuko didn't know what to do. As his ship docked in the port, he could see a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers walking about, while a bunch of people selling their wares lined the docking area. The sun was beginning to set now, and Omashu was about a five day trip walking distance from here, so he hoped that he could make it there in time to meet Aang. However, what truly concerned him was Suki, he knew where she was, and he knew about the concentration camps - all six of them knew what they were, having liberated quite a few when they were together in the future.

There was his problem though, that had been all six of them, and every time they were barely able to do it. The camps were heavily guarded, and each prisoner was purposely malnourished, and made to be as weak as possible before they would eventually be either worked to death, or sold in slavery for the Fire Nation. Just thinking of it made Zuko's stomach churn, _I have to get Suki out of there..._

How though? They were all in their much weaker younger bodies. They could remember their bending forms, how to fight, and all that, but they were too weak. For the benders, it wouldn't be too much of a problem, they would just have to try to stay out of range of physical fighting, but for Sokka and Suki, and even him since he used the dual swords, it would be hard to get used to their weaker bodies for quite a while.

He smiled, imagining what Toph would say to him, _Probably something along the lines of: you've always been weak, what's the problem now? _He sighed at the self depreciating comment, _I miss them. _He thought miserably.

He thought back, thinking of all the courses of action they could do to liberate this concentration camp. He probably wouldn't be able to help, or would have to be shrouded in darkness the entire time, Toph would probably be their biggest asset in the situation... He growled, _I will need to bring this up to them, _He decided, _Then we can figure out what to do._ His course of action firmly in mind, Zuko finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Zuko, are you there? Zuko!"

Zuko turned to his uncle, "Yes uncle?"

"Why did you dock up here?" He asked, "I know you were interested in that concentration camp, but I really don't suggest you going there."

"No, that is not why I am here."

"Then what are we here for?"

"We're going into Omashu."

Iroh couldn't help but spit out the tea in his mouth, and gaped at his nephew, the lost tea forgotten, "Omashu?"

"Yes."

"How do you plan on getting into there?" Iroh asked, still in shock, "And why?"

"I have a feeling that the Avatar is there." Zuko said.

"Prince Zuko, that is not the wisest course of action, in fact, I think it's one of your most risky plans you've ever thought of. How exactly do you plan on getting into a heavily fortified Earth Kingdom city?"

"You and I are going in as refuges. Our men will stay on the ship."

His uncle nodded along, but he frowned when Zuko said, 'our' men, instead of his men. He knew something was wrong, but he also knew that it was in fact Zuko. _What has gotten into you lately Zuko? _He wondered, it was a good change, but it was such a drastic change from before that it alarmed his uncle a little bit.

"We'll need disguises as well, we'll just buy some rags from this village to wear, and then we'll head out immediately."

"If that is the case," Iroh said, going along with it for now, "We should cut out hair as well. So no one will be able to identify us easily."

Zuko thought of it, before grabbing a knife from his belt, "You're right." And then he cut his ponytail off.

Iroh widened his eyes, now he knew something was wrong. Zuko willingly doing that? _Did meeting the Avatar do this to him? _

However, rather than voicing his thoughts, Iroh went along with it and cut his hair too.

"Tell the men we'll be gone for about a week. Give them the week off in this town." Zuko said shrugging, knowing now that every out of character action he did wouldn't matter, not after this conversation with his uncle.

Iroh nodded, "Very well Prince Zuko." He said, going to the wreck room to tell the men the news.

Aang stood up from Appa, looking at the sky, "It's almost night." He said, but it didn't get any responses. He let out a sigh, and look on as both siblings were still tucked away in different sections of the camp. He knew they didn't have a problem with him, but with each other. _It's up to them to fix this. _He thought sadly, before stretching, "I am going to get Toph now."

No one answered, and he let out a groan. He was originally going to go alone, but he couldn't leave them like this, "Come on guys, let's go."

They didn't respond.

Aang looked on sadly at the two of them, and shook his head as he went on alone to get Toph.

It didn't take Aang long to get to the mansion where Toph lived, since this time he headed there as fast as he possibly could, and he went around until he was at the spot he and Katara had been earlier that day. Right when he was about to Airbend over the wall, the wall parted, and Aang froze, but calmed down visibly when Toph walked out. She turned around and closed the hole behind her.

"Took you long enough Twinkle Toes!"

Aang blinked at that, and then shook himself, "Wow, it has been a long time since I heard you call me that."

Toph laughed, "Yeah well, we're kids again, so I think I will start calling you guys nick names again! Where is Sugar Queen?"

"I wanted to talk to you about that actually." Aang said, looking away nervously.

"Wait, let me guess, Katara and Sokka got into a fight?"

Aang couldn't help but laugh at that, "You always seem to know everything."

"Yeah, it just seems like it would happen. Katara is always pushing people to do the right thing, and it can get downright annoying sometimes." Toph grimaced, "Trust me, I know."

Aang sighed, "Sokka needed to be brought out of his depression though."

"Always sticking up for your girlfriend." Toph sighed, "Whatever, so are they both giving each other the silent treatment or something?"

"They almost came to blows." Aang admitted, "They won't even talk to me."

Toph looked shocked, "Wow, seriously?"

"Yeah."

Toph sighed, "And I missed all the drama."

Aang shook his head, "You shouldn't joke about this, it's really serious."

"Yeah, yeah. Just take me to Appa so we can get out of here before my parents realize I am missing."

"Did you leave them a note?"

"Well, I would have, but I can't write." Toph said.

Aang laughed nervously, "Oh, right. Well lets go."

The two ran through the town, as quickly as they could, trying not to get any attention drawn to them. Fortunately, the cover of night kept them from being seen by everyone but one man.

Once they reached the flying bison, Toph knew at that moment that something was wrong. She felt Katara and Sokka sitting far apart from one another with their backs towards each other, and it was oddly quiet, no sound of a crackling fire or anything.

"Hey guys, here's Toph."

"Hey." Both of them said in a monotone voice.

"Let's get out of here." Toph said, "I am sick of this town all ready."

Everyone complied with the direction, and soon they were off. Katara and Sokka sat far apart, while Toph sat near Aang at the head of the bison.

"I am going to do something about this if it goes on for very long." She whispered to Aang.

"No, it's something they have to work out with each other."

Toph groaned, "I hate this."

"Yeah, me too."

In Gaoling the next morning, the servants of the wealthiest family in the town were running around, to everyone they would show a picture of Toph and ask where the girl was. It was causing quite an uproar, but one man knew the location, so he was brought to the Bei Fong Mansion.

Master Yu, along with Lao and Poppy Bei Fong sat across from a very dirty young man in front of them. They all didn't hide their disgust as they watched the man smile as he held up the picture of the young girl, "I know where she is."

His eyes were hidden behind his greasy hair, but he fingered it away so he could see them straight in the eyes, "The Avatar took her."

"The Avatar?" Lao said, "You've got to be kidding."

"Nope." He denied, "I was up last night, and I saw the two of them going away from town."

"I see." Lao said, "We only have your word on this though."

"It's my word, or none at all." He shrugged, "I am Shu by the way."

"Well, Shu, if we have no other lead, we'll listen to yours." Lao said, "But to think the Avatar stole my daughter? That's preposterous! Why would he want my helpless little girl?"

Shu shrugged again, "I don't know."

"If your lead is accurate, we'll send you and Master Yu to apprehend the Avatar and retrieve our daughter." Poppy said.

Both Shu and Master Yu looked about to protest, but it was cut short by Lao, "There will be quite a bit of money in it for the both of you of course." He said showing off a large chest of gold. Both their protests were gone at that moment.

"Now, we'll call you if we need you Shu, thank you for the lead." As he left, another man came into tell them where they thought they saw the girl.

**Chapter four - End**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter five**

Zuko looked over to his uncle as they continued to traveled to Omashu on a small caravan that was heading to the city. Thankfully they were travelling at a faster pace than just walking, but Zuko's uncle was still suspicious, they were travelling in conditions that were not fit for a Fire Nation noble, so Zuko knew his uncle was wondering why he wasn't complaining. Zuko hid a smile from view; _He's probably wondering other things than that. _He thought, "Uncle, is there anything on your mind?" He asked, just being blunt.

"Why yes, there is." Iroh said, eyeing his nephew, "I have told you before that you're acting different, but I have never seen you so calm before. I was sure you were going to say no to this kind family who cared enough about our well being to give us a rid."

Zuko nodded, "I will tell you in Omashu."

"I understand that, but what could be so important that we need to be inside an Earth Kingdom city to discuss?" Iroh said, and then whispered, "It does not make sense, I know you do not know any Earthbenders in the city," A short paused, "Or any in general." He said as an afterthought.

"You just need to trust me."

Iroh nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to break through and figure out what it was Zuko needed to tell him before it was time to tell, "I just hope it's nothing you will regret in the end."

They were silent as the caravan continued on its path to the city. It took another few days, and soon they were at the giant earth-gate of the city. The two of them looked up at the great city, the afternoon sun giving off every detail of the place. There had to be thousands of houses there, and Zuko shuddered to think how many Earthbenders had to be there, if they got caught, they were done for here.

Even iroh was impressed by it all, but looked on worriedly at the guards who were stationed at the gates. They both looked on at the people waiting to enter the city, betraying no emotion on their face. Soon Zuko and Iroh were walking up to them, ready to enter the city.

"We need names." Zuko muttered, "I'll be Lee, you can be Mushi."

"Mushi?" Iroh repeated, but he couldn't deny the name, because they were coming up to the Earthbending guards.

"What's your business in Omashu?" They asked, holding their weapons in a cross between them and the gates of the city.

"We're refugees." Zuko said, "I'm Lee, and this is my uncle Mushi, our village down to the south has been taken over by the Fire Nation, we have nowhere else to go… We thought we could maybe find work here."

The guards looked them over. Upon seeing nothing on the two that could cause harm they allowed them to enter "Very well, welcome to Omashu."

At that moment the gates in front of them parts, and even Zuko couldn't stop his jaw from dropping at the majestic opening. He stared wide eyed at the city as they entered – it was even bigger than he imagined. Shaking himself out of it, he turned to his uncle, "Ir – Mushi, let's go rent a room for the night."

Iroh was busy admiring the city as well, but stopped when Zuko told him to come on, "Of course Lee." He said, walking behind Zuko, continuing to admire the place. Thankfully, the city had an inn right outside of the gates, so they didn't have to go far to get a room. Fortunately for them, they had enough Earth Kingdom currency to get a room.

"Who knew converting Fire Nation currency into Earth Kingdom money would eventually help us." Iroh said as he laughed at the handful of coins he still had.

"Uncle, don't say that. It's suspicious."

Iroh nodded, "Of course Lee. Now tell me, what are we doing here in the city?"

"The person I was supposed to meet isn't here yet. I'm going to go wait by the gates to the city. You can go shopping if you want, just don't waste all our money." Zuko said dismissively, as he began to walk out of the room.

Before he could leave though, Iroh grabbed his arm, "Zuko, explain to me why we're here."

"Uncle," Zuko said trying to free himself.

"I'm worried Zuko, do you truly believe you can find the Avatar here? What will you do if you find him? Reveal that you're trying to capture him to return to your father? You're not thinking things through!"

"Please, I know what I'm doing." Zuko said, getting his arm back after his uncle loosened his grip, "I'm going to wait for my friends to get here before I tell you what is going on, but I promise that it will explain everything.

"Promise?" Iroh asked unnecessarily.

"I promise." Zuko confirmed, "Hopefully they'll be here later today. Waiting a full day here isn't my idea of fun, especially since we need to stay undercover."

Iroh was not listening, _Zuko has changed. He claims to have friends coming to the city, but when did he meet anyone, and for long enough for him to consider them friends? _He paused, _The Avatar? _He laughed at the mere thought of Zuko befriending the Avatar, _That would be the day. I guess I'm just going to have to trust Zuko on this. _

With that decided, he shrugged, "I'm going shopping, do you want anything?"

"No, I'm going to go wait by the gates. You have fun with that." Zuko said walking out of the room followed by his uncle.

Zuko leaned against the wall by the gate, and watched his uncle wander off into the city. Knowing that he was in for a long wait, Zuko let out a sigh and closed his eyes, allowing the heat of the sun to comfort him.

Unknown to Zuko, Aang was going as fast as he could to Omashu.

"Are we there yet?"

"No Toph." Aang muttered, his left eye beginning to twitch, "Please, don't ask again."

Toph didn't even listen, "Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"And how about now?"

Aang didn't answer this time. Toph had been doing this on and off for a few days now, and it was beginning to drive him nuts.

"I'm beginning to wonder if getting you so early was the right idea." He muttered darkly.

"You know you missed me!" She laughed slapping him on the back in a friendly, yet brutal manner - Aang nearly fell off Appa as a result.

Aang knew she was right though, "Yeah."

If possible her smile widened, "You know it would be even better if some _other _people here would break out of their funk and have some fun."

Aang didn't even bother to stop her, the young girl had been doing it non-stop for the past few days, but each attempt was ignored. It was obvious to even a casual viewer that Toph was getting annoyed by their teammates angst.

She even pushed Katara's buttons to try and get a response. In camp the previous night she went to Katara and off-handedly remarked that Katara must like being one of the taller people in the group again, and waited for the eventual scolding she would get, yet it never came.

"I'm bored." She sighed, "Can you please do something about this?"

Aang glanced back at Katara and Sokka, "Yeah, I think I will." He finally said, "If neither is going to take the initiative to fix the problem, then I will tonight."

Toph cheered, scaring Momo away from her lap. The lemur flew to Aang, knowing that Sokka would just ignore him.

He truthfully wanted it to end. Katara had even gone so far as to stop talking to him. He didn't know why, but it was beginning to depress him, and at night he couldn't get to sleep without her by his side, he just stays up all night watching over his friends. Similar to Sokka now, she was also beginning to neglect her training. Thankfully Toph was there to help him with Earthbending.

"They're adults, it's embarrassing that they let something like this get to them."

"Well technically-"

"_Well technically _what, twinkle toes?"

"Eh, nothing."

"That's what I thought."

Thankfully for Aang, Toph let up on annoying him for now, and soon another four hours of constant flying passed. That changed when Aang saw a glimpse of Omashu.

"We're here guys!" He called out, and then said in a normal volume, "It's not destroyed now, thank the spirits."

"It's beautiful looking. I love it." Toph said, looking straight at it.

"Yeah, and-" Aang sighed, "Does that ever get old for you Toph?"

"Nope."

Rather than say anything else, Aang flew Appa a little outside of the city, in a small wooded area that would hide him from the observing eyes of the city. Once that was finished, all four of the children jumped off of the bison, who promptly sat down and began to fall asleep.

"Sorry boy!" Aang laughed, "I forgot that you can't fly as much in your younger body either." Aang hugged his friend, "Don't worry boy, you won't have to fly for another day at least."

Appa let out a grunt of appreciation, and licked Aang. Momo meanwhile flew down to Aang, and rested on his head, "You want to come with us?" Aang laughed. He took the constant noises that Momo made as a yes.

"Ready to go guys."

"Yeah!" Was Toph's reply.

"Yep." Katara said quietly, and Sokka silently agreed.

Aang rolled his eyes, and tried not to let the dampened group spirit get him down, "We're going to go see Zuko first, and then when we're there we'll meet Bumi and Iroh, and we'll tell them everything that they need to know. Including when the solar eclipse is going to happen, and we'll tell Bumi around when his city is going to be attacked so he can do something else rather than surrender."

"Are you even sure he'll do anything else? He seems a little loopy if you ask me."

Aang truly didn't know, "Well, maybe he'll do something else?" He shrugged.

Toph sighed, "Lets just go."

"All right." Aang said, leading the group. Toph walked by his side, and the siblings, again, stayed in the back.

Toph nudged Aang, "Talk to them now."

"But-" He attempted to whisper back.

"Do it now. This is getting really old really fast."

"Um, hey, Sokka, Katara." He said turning to them, "Try not to make a bad first impression, ok? You guys should try to be a little more happy."

Toph slapped her forehead, the sound repeating over and over in the distance.

"Of course, Aang." Katara said.

"Right." Sokka said, though he didn't seem to be interested in anything.

"Crisis averted." Aang turned to Toph smiling.

"If I could see you, I would be glaring at you." She mumbled, "Let's just get out of here."

The four of them reached the gates, and like Zuko before them, were blocked from entering the city. "What is your business in Omashu."

Aang bowed to the man, "I am the Avatar, this is my Earthbending teacher Toph, this is my Waterbending teacher Katara, and this is my strategist Sokka." He said pointing to each member of his group.

The two men gave the younger boy a dumbfounded look before they glanced towards each other. They blinked rapidly, before a smile broke across their faces. Aang smiled too, but dropped it when the two men began to laugh. They were almost falling to the ground, their sides heaving and their breath coming up short.

"Oh, oh spirit!" One of them said amid his laughter.

"Yeah," The other laughed, "he sounded so serious too."

They both held onto each other to try and prevent themselves from falling over.

Aang just stared at them blankly for a second, and sighed, "I'm serious."

"Ok kid, right. You expect us to believe that you, just a boy, are a master Airbender, that your little girl friend is a master Earthbender, and that she is a master Waterbender? Oh, and of course your strategist over there." He laughed, "Ok kid, you're cute, I'll give you that. So what are you really doing here."

Toph had enough, and in a quick movement trapped both of them in their place, "I'm a master Earthbender, and you will let us pass. It's vitally important that we see the King soon, and we will not be held back by you two."

The two men were visibly shocked that a young girl got them in such a firm hold, they couldn't even break out of it.

"R- right." They sighed, "The Avatar, of course."

Aang sighed, and did a very simple Airbending trick. He formed a ball in his hand, and then jumped on top of it, "This is my air scooter. I invented this." He grinned at their now truly dumbstruck faces, "Can we go in now?"

Within seconds of being released the guards allowed them to enter the city and they wandered around the bit, Aang taking in the site of an undestroyed city once more.

It didn't take long for a familiar voice to appear, "You guys got here sooner than I expected you to."

"Zuko!" Toph yelled, turning towards the boy, "How have you been!"

"I've been doing fine," He smiled lightly, "It's good to see you Toph, but please call me Lee here."

"Oh, ok Lee." Toph laughed at the name.

Zuko sighed, "You always find something to laugh about." He turned to Aang before she could retort, "You got here right on time. Uncle and I arrived a few hours ago."

"We came as fast as we could once we got Toph." He said, "How have you been doing since," He looked at Sokka and leaned forward and whispered, "Kyoshi Island."

Zuko glanced towards Sokka, and did notice the boy to be off, "I've been well." He muttered, "I basically told my uncle that something was different though, so there's no way we can back out of this now. He was really opposed to coming here."

"He did come, right?"

"Yeah," Zuko laughed, "I would be surprised if he didn't come."

"Can you two stop flirting now?" Toph muttered getting between the two of them, "Can we go somewhere quiet so people won't wonder why five kids wearing strange clothes are talking in the middle of the street."

"Strange?" Zuko looked down at his Earth Kingdom clothes, "You mean, four kids wearing strange clothes."

"Whatever, not like I can see if you haven't noticed."

Aang wanted to question how she knew they were wearing odd clothing, but thought against it. Sometimes it was better to just let Toph have her way when she said things like that, and this time he agreed with her, "Do you have somewhere we can go?"

"My uncle and I rented a room, we can go there."

He led them through the streets, and to the inn. Inside, he led them upstairs to his room, but Zuko pulled everyone but Sokka into the Hallway, "We'll be right back." Zuko called in to Sokka, and shut the door and led them down the hallway a little ways.

"Ok, what happened?"

Aang and Katara fidgeted a little bit, but Toph didn't even have to be asked twice to tell, "Sokka is worried about Suki. The reason Katara is quiet too is because she and Sokka got into a fight over it, so she is being boring like Sokka is."

Katara sent a glare towards the girl, but it was ignored.

"Oh, he thinks she died?" Zuko asked.

"She didn't?" Katara asked.

"No, Zhao didn't kill her."

Aang smiled, "Really? Where is she?"

"I don't know if you'll like what you hear." The three looked eager to hear him out, so he just let out a small sigh before saying, "He took her to a concentration camp for prisoners of war. If I am right, she should have arrived there a few days ago. You guys remember how horrible those places are."

Everyone's eagerness was washed away with that.

"Really?" Aang whispered.

"Yeah," He confirmed, "That is why I wanted to talk to you guys about it first, I know if I tell Sokka he is going to want to do something stupid."

"And we should!" Katara said, "She is our friend, and doesn't deserve to be there!"

"That much is true." Zuko allowed, "But there's one problem that has been on my mind for a while about it, we're just kids. We don't stand a chance breaking into there, even with all five of us working together. That is why I am hesitant to tell Sokka."

"I think you should tell him." Toph shrugged, "A broody, silent, boring Sokka is much worse than a driven Sokka in my opinion."

Aang thought it over before nodding, "I think you should too. We're not going to leave her in there, no matter what."

Even Katara nodded her head in agreement.

"I guess I am outvoted here." Zuko muttered, "I told you guys because I thought you would understand, especially you Aang. I'm beginning to wonder if I should have stayed quiet about it..."

"We won't leave people who need help behind." Katara said, her voice left no room for argument.

Zuko moaned, "Fine, I will tell him, but I know this won't work out well."

"Stop being such a negative nancy!" Toph said punching his arm.

"Right." Zuko said, as the four of them entered the room to find Sokka sitting on one of the beds looking out the window. The room wasn't that great, only two beds a few feet apart, a small desk and chair, and a window, it was obviously very cheap.

Zuko looked over to Sokka, and he walked over and sat down next to the boy. He tried to think of something to say, and just decided to go with the first thought on his mind, "I am sorry for your loss Sokka."

Sokka for the first time since he got there looked up, "Look guys! Stop trying to make me feel better, ok?"

Zuko shrugged, "If you insist, but I have something you might be interested in."

"Like what?" Sokka said narrowing his eyes at Zuko. Everyone else in the room was just surprised that Sokka seemed to be lucid at the moment.

"I know where Suki is right now."

Silence met the answer, and one could hear a pin drop in the room if they so desire to do so.

"Where?"

"Zhao took her to a concentration camp outside of a port I docked at when I came here."

"Wait, you went by there, but you didn't bring her?" Sokka was grinding his teeth.

"You're kidding, right?" Zuko asked, "Not only would that blow my cover, but if I even attempted to do that I would be brought down. That is why I told Aang before you, I knew you'd say something stupid like that!"

"Stupid?" Sokka shouted, "I have been worrying for almost a week now, I wondered if she was even alive, and you have the gall to say that to me? And you told them before me?" He looked hurt and betrayed.

"I wasn't sure if telling you was the right thing to do."

Sokka growled, but forced himself to calm down, "You're right." He finally sighed.

"What?"

"It probably wasn't smart. I am going to get Suki whether you guys want to come or not."

"On the contrary Sokka, they all want to go too."

Sokka actually smiled at that, "Really?"

"Of course Sokka, we're going to help you get Suki back." Katara said, the first words spoken between the siblings in nearly three days.

Aang and Toph nodded, but Zuko had to ruin the party, "It won't be easy, I truthfully think it's impossible."

"It doesn't matter, do you have any information on this place?"

"Nothing very useful, I only know that it is heavily guarded, and that if any one even attempts to escape they will be killed. Stealth will be very difficult."

"So we'll have to knock on the front door." Sokka decided.

"You can't be serious." Zuko muttered, "That would be like walking straight into your death."

"You didn't finish listening to me." He said, "You're the prince of the Fire Nation, right? You can bring us in, and we can begin to destroy the place from the inside."

"You want me to arrest all of you." He asked, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"Yeah, you say it's heavily guarded, so we just need to get inside so we can quietly and quickly dismantle everything."

"They put you in chains you know."

"I figured." Sokka said, shrugging, "But you're still the prince, you can say you'll do it yourself."

"You don't get how royalty works, do you Sokka." Toph said, "They don't do any of the work. It would be really suspicious if Zuko went back there and said he'd do it."

"Do you have a better plan?" Sokka sounded annoyed, "I am working with little to no information, and I am going to try getting her whether it kills me or not."

Before any conversation could continue, the door to the room opened, and Iroh walked in carrying a bag of food. He looked down at all the children gathered in a small circle on the floor with a lemur lying on the bed lazily, and blinked a few times before his eyes wandered up to his nephew leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. All the children were looking at him, and he paused on one in particular, "Avatar?" He whispered.

"Welcome back uncle." Zuko said, "I didn't expect you here so soon."

Zhao entered the concentration camp with a sick smile, "Welcome to your new home, girls." He pulled the chains connected to the handcuffs on all their wrists, yanking several of them off their feet and making them fall into the dirt and mud, "It's a filthy place, but you'll soon learn to call it home, or until you're sold to someone else. Either way, I hope you all enjoy a life of hard labor."

The camp had high wooden walls, with a watch tower erected every few points on the wall. Inside the walls, there were a few buildings where the Fire Nation soldiers and watch would live in, and outside was a bunch of broken tents, and other places to try to sleep. Every day the prisoners would be forced to work hours upon hours to mine coal from the mine inside the camp, and would be fed just enough so they wouldn't die the next day.

In other words, it was a real life hell for the prisoners there.

Zhao took them to an important looking man who leered at them for a moment before turning to Zhao, "More prisoners Zhao? We're nearly bursting at the seams with them." He laughed at that as if it were a funny joke. The man wore very nice armor, and his hair was tied into a high ponytail, and he was very tall - almost as intimidating as Zhao.

"There's a lot of insects to crush, General Hong," Zhao shrugged, "They're your responsibility now. Do whatever you want with them, but be careful, they're feisty."

"Don't worry about it Zhao, they'll soon learn how things are done here. You staying tonight?"

"Maybe, I am currently on an assignment to capture the Avatar - Firelord's orders."

"Oh, sounds like fun." The man smiled, "Good luck with that, please, drink with us tonight, you look like you've had a long day."

After a little banter, Zhao finally accepted the offer, and soon the Kyoshi Warriors were pulled further into the camp by the man. "In here you will call me Boss. I am nothing more than your superior to you, if you attempt to escape, you will be killed, no exceptions. If you try to steal food, you will be killed. If you even look at me the wrong way, I will kill you." He turned to the girls, "Any questions?"

Upon seeing their glaring eyes, he smiled, "Very well, enjoy your stay." He attached their chain to a post in the middle of the camp, where hundreds of other people were staying. They didn't attract curious eyes at all, the people in there were completely lifeless.

"You will be stay here for a few weeks." General Hong said upon chaining them in place and locking it, "Then once I am positive that you'll obey me you can begin to work. Dinner will be served later tonight." He walked off, leaving the warriors to contemplate their situation.

"What do we do?" One of them asked.

Suki looked at the chains that weighed her hands down, and attempted to slip out of them, but they were on very tightly. "We have to hold on tight." Suki said, a sick feeling in her stomach. _I have been to one of these places, but living in one... _She couldn't help but shudder at the thought. _I hope you're doing better than I am Sokka. _

Sokka looked at Iroh, and then to Zuko. Uncle and Nephew were just staring at each other, neither were sure how to vocalize what was going on.

"Can, you explain what is going on Zuko?" Iroh finally asked, finding his voice, "It's rather... odd, that you're in company of the one you've attempted to capture for so long."

"I can explain." Zuko said, getting off the wall and turning to his friends, "I guess introductions are in order first. This is Sokka." Said boy waved at Iroh, "This is Katara, this is Toph," Both girls waved as well, "And as you've guessed this is the Avatar, otherwise known as Aang to the rest of us."

"I suppose that you're going to explain why you're on a first name basis with the Avatar now?"

"Yes, I should." Zuko nodded, "It's a very long story, so you might want to sit down." Iroh sat down on a bed next to Aang. The little boy showed the old man a bright smile, which oddly disturbed Iroh somehow - not his happiness, just the situation.

"Long ago in a different time I tried to capture the Avatar." He tried to begin, but was interrupted.

"Wait, you're going to start from the beginning?" Sokka asked, "That WILL take a while if you do that!"

"I was going to give an abridged version." Zuko sighed, "Even then it would be long, hence why I asked uncle to sit."

Sokka sighed, "Just get to the point."

"Whatever! Anyway, I know you're not aligned with the Fire Nation and its teachings. Throughout my entire life you've been trying to show me the right way, and I stupidly would ignore you, or just tell myself that you were wrong. It wasn't until I became a fugitive from the Fire Nation when you began to actively teach me things that were against normal Fire Nation regulations, and you tried to change my view point."

"I see." Iroh nodded, "So you mean to tell me you're from a different world?"

"Kind of." Zuko sighed, "We actually came to the past. In the future, or, other timeline, whatever you want to call it, the Fire Nation won. We tried to fight back, but a decade after they won, resistance efforts slowly crawled, until it was just us. We were hunted down, every day we had to claw our way through the day just to survive. Eventually, our main goal was not to end Fire Nation rule, but just to survive until we were thirty."

"We would have given up hope, but we found a scroll." Aang said, "It detailed how we could fix our mistakes, so we did as it asked. It was vague, and it took us nearly seven years to find everything, but we did, and it sent us to the past."

"So you know everything that is going to happen?" Iroh asked.

"To an extent." Sokka sighed, "A lot of stuff has already changed, but then again things always seem to play out the same, just slightly changed. Like, for example, in the other time Zuko attacked Kyoshi Island, but this time it was Zhao."

"I see." Iroh nodded.

"You seem to be taking this well uncle."

Iroh looked at Zuko, "I have known something was different about you Zuko. It was as obvious as day and night. The reason for it though, is admittedly difficult to believe." When Zuko was about to speak up he stopped him, "No, I believe you, It's just a lot to take in."

"Just give him a moment." Toph said, "He's about to have a heart attack." She said jokingly.

"She can feel your heartbeat." Katara clarified for Iroh's odd expression, "She can also tell if you're lying or not."

"Oh." Iroh nodded, trying to keep up with the information, "Anything else I should know?"

"You and I were good friends." Toph said, "We met when you were chasing after Zuko and I ran away from the group for a little while."

"It's nice to meet you Miss. Toph."

Toph laughed, "Just Toph."

"Very well."

"Ok, I know you're dying to ask questions." Sokka said, "So ask away."

Iroh looked visibly uncomfortable, and laughed slightly, "Zuko, I guess I did eventually get through to you."

"Kind of." Zuko said, looking away.

"Is something wrong?" Iroh asked.

"No, you did, but it took a lot longer than you thought it would. Before I realized my mistake I helped my sister take down the Avatar, and actually succeeded in killing him. Katara revived him, but I had to do a lot of bad things to do right. It wasn't until I was with my dad when I began to realize that I screwed up."

"At least in the end, you did what was right. I assume I was proud of you then too?"

"Yes, you were."

"Iroh, you need to assemble the Order of the White Lotus sooner rather than later." Aang said changing the course of the conversation, "In about three months Omashu is going to be attacked, and it needs as much defense as it can get, so this time Bumi won't just surrender right away."

"Three months?" Iroh thought aloud, "I suppose I can begin to get them organized, and tell them I have inside information from the Fire Nation, but Avatar, your friend is part of the White Lotus. If he didn't contact us before the siege, then he didn't want us to be present during the battle for this city. Are you sure it's for the best that we fight for Omashu?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Aang said, "Ba Sing Se fell as well, mostly due to the corruption of the government. This city doesn't allow itself to be ran by the Dai Li, so we can easily see the King here."

"The Dai Li," The disdain in Iroh's voice was easily identifiable, "I have heard very few good things about them. You say they control the government?"

"Yes, the Earth King has no idea about the war beyond his walls. We tried to get an army there to attack on the solar eclipse, but it failed when Azula conquered it."

"Azula conquered Ba Sing Se?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

Iroh was shocked by that news, and couldn't say anything.

"Yeah, that was my reaction too." Zuko snarled, "I will take her down this time."

"You mean kill her?" Iroh pressed.

"Whatever has to be done."

"She's family I hope you remember. I know she's a little crazy, but killing her doesn't seem like the right thing to do."

"You're wrong uncle. It was because of her that everything went wrong. We need her out of the picture as soon as possible."

Iroh was quiet again, "I need time to reflect on all of this, he looked them all, "I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that my nephew befriended the Avatar."

"We'll leave you be." Katara offered.

"No, not yet. I will have to think long and hard about everything you told me, is there any other things that I need to know."

And so the five children told him everything that happened in the past, from the siege of the North Pole, to the Fall of Ba Sing Se, to the failed attempt to defeat the Firelord, to recapturing Ba Sing Se, to the second siege of Ba Sing Se.

"Was I around for that?"

"No." Zuko sighed, "You were killed before by Azula."

"Azula killed me?" He asked shaking his head, "Perhaps she is far too gone."

"Well, this was over five years since we lost to the Firelord," Aang provided helpfully, "Maybe that had something to do with it?"

"Possibly."

And soon, they finished recounting their story up to the point where they began to their frantic search to find the heirloom items to come to the past.

Iroh absorbed it all, and let out a sigh, "Please, allow an old man to rest."

"Ok, we'll be gone tonight anyway." Zuko said off-handedly, ringing alarm bells in Iroh's head.

"Doing what?"

"Going to free Suki, the other person who came back in time with us," Sokka said.

"Where is she being held?"

"Some camp near where we docked." Zuko said.

His eyes widened, "That camp? The concentration camp? You cannot be serious Zuko! It is heavily guarded, and if they saw you trying to break in they would brand you a traitor without a second thought!"

"I am not leaving my wife behind." Sokka said, ending any further argument, "We are going to save her, nothing bad can happen."

"I think your affiliation for her is blinding your judgment." Iroh said, "It is very unwise to attack there, especially with only the five of you."

"I tried to tell them that." Zuko said.

"We're going to save our friend." Toph said, both Aang and Katara agreed.

"Then I suppose you'll need my help, what's the plan?"

Sokka smiled when Iroh got on his knees and huddled with them in the circle, "Telling King Bumi is going to have to wait Aang." Aang didn't seem to mind though, "Now, here's what we're going to do…"

Nighttime arrived without any fuss for the camp; as usual the people in the concentration camp began to fall asleep on the dirt for the night. The sentries patrolled the wooden walls built around the place several months ago, and in the officers building a large feast was held in honor of Zhao, who was kind enough to grace the camp with his presence. They laughed, cheered, and had a good time, contrasting sharply with the situation outside.

This is what Zuko and Iroh came across that moonless night as they dragged along two children behind them in chains.

"This is a stupid idea." Zuko said for the hundredth time.

"Hey, I don't care what you think." Sokka said, "This plan to going to work, and we'll all leave here a little wiser!"

"Or dead." Zuko muttered.

"Now Zuko, don't be so close minded. Your friend seems to know what he is doing."

"We're getting close," Katara said, getting déjà vu, _I did this once before. _She thought to herself. She wanted to laugh at it, but for some reason it just made her feel ill.

"Be quiet now." Zuko ordered, "We're getting close."

As if on cue, two guards walked up to them, while several more were poised on the wall, ready to strike. "State your business."

"I am Prince Zuko. I have some prisoners, friends of the Avatar." Even though Zuko was covered in poor quality clothes and his hair was cut, the attention was on his two prisoners instead.

"The Avatar's friends?" One of the two soldiers stepped over and examined Sokka and Katara, "Water Tribe eh? Is either of them a bender."

"No."

"Ok then, bring them in." The giant wooden doors parted, and the four walked into the camp. Torch light lit up the entrance, and they watched grimly into the dark, where the prisoners would either be sleeping, or doing spirits know what else.

Zuko felt someone attempting to take the chains from him and he glared at the man, who backed away, "Sorry, I was just going to take them for you."

"Fine," Zuko said, about to hand over the chains, but his uncle grabbed them before the soldier could, "Uncle?"

"You could at least show your prisoners the courtesy of doing the work yourself," Iroh chastised, "After all, you were the one who captured them."

Zuko looked away, "Whatever." He took the chains back, "Where do I go to do this."

He was handed a torch, and the soldier told him where to put the new prisoners, "General Zhao came earlier today with some other prisoners, a lot of ladies." The man chuckled at that, "They were cute, but more importantly Zhao is here. If you want, you guys can talk or collaborate on capturing the Avatar since you do have his friends."

Zuko looked at the young soldier, either he was stupid, or he didn't know of the well known hatred between both men. Zuko decided on the latter for now, and just chose to ignore him.

Iroh however, stroked his beard, "Zhao is here right now?"

"Yes," the soldier confirmed, "I could take you to him if you'd like."

"Hm, maybe." Iroh thought, "I will consider it."

"Good, I'll tell him that you're here so-"

"No. Don't tell him we're here." Zuko said immediately, earning him a confused glance.

"What my nephew means to say is that he would like to surprise the general. I'm sure Zhao would be thrilled to see Zuko, so my dear nephew doesn't wish to ruin the surprise."

The young soldier smiled and nodded his head, "All right, hurry up though, they are having a lot of food out tonight, and I think they just started eating."

"I'll keep that in mind." Zuko muttered darkly, before he turned and wandered further into the camp.

Sokka was having trouble containing his laughter, but managed to hold it in until the soldier left, "Oh wow, I can't believe that guy. He actually thinks you and Zhao are friends!"

"Shush up Sokka." Katara scolded, "This does complicate things though."

"Are we still going through with the plan?" Zuko asked, looking back at his chained friends.

"We've come too far to back out now," Sokka said, looking down.

Meanwhile, on the outside of camp, Aang and Toph are leaning on Appa. Momo was neatly tucked into the saddle of Appa fast asleep. They were situated close to the camp, but far enough so the watch towers wouldn't be able to see them, thankfully that night was a new moon, even if it meant that Katara's Waterbending wouldn't be quite as powerful. The darkness provided allowed them to easily fly close enough to the camp.

Both Aang and Toph were supposed to wait for a signal, whatever it was, and then they could go in and help, but not before then. However, there was one small problem with this plan…

"I am bored." Toph mumbled, "When can we start kicking butt?"

"Soon," Aang promised, "You're always too impatient."

"And you're too jittery." Toph countered, "I can feel you from over here, and it feels like a mini earthquake."

"Sorry, I'm just nervous."

"No, really?" Toph asked.

"We're risking everything!"

"I thought you were all for this plan."

"I am!"

"So why are you whining?"

"They should have taken me inside instead, not Katara."

"Or Sokka," Toph pointed out, "Aang, you know that is stupid. You think we're taking a risk now? If they took you in there, I doubt you'd come out without having fifty thousand pounds of chains covered over your body."

Aang sighed, "I know, I'm just really worried for them."

"Don't be. Zuko is holding Sokka's sword, and Iroh has a pouch of water on him for Katara. If anything, it's the Fire Nation you should be worried about."

"You're right." He muttered, yet the shaking did not stop, much to Toph's annoyance.

Sokka was leading the group now, holding the torch as he looked at the horrible conditions the people were living in. He had to ignore it for now though, because he was focused on finding only one group of people at the moment. Katara was right behind him, and she couldn't help but flinch at the living conditions, she had seen it all before, but it didn't mean she would ever get used to the brutal work of the Fire Nation.

Zuko and Iroh had left them behind, knowing that they couldn't be seen running around the place looking for someone. Instead they went into the shadows and observed the Fire Nation soldiers, their job was pretty much complete, now they only had to intervene if it was getting really bad, which was a worst case scenario.

The siblings passed by a mine shaft, and they both looked down it before continuing on.

"We took this camp down before." Sokka whispered.

"Yeah, I remember." Katara answered, looking around to make sure no guards were nearby.

"Do you have any idea where Suki could be?"

"No." Katara admitted, "Maybe we can ask someone?"

"I don't think they would help."

Katara didn't disagree, the people lying around the place looked miserable, and worst of all, they looked lifeless. Their eyes glossed over, and their will to live apparently gone.

"Come on, that soldier pointed us in the general direction." Sokka muttered as they continued to crawl through the blanket of darkness.

Taking a few more minutes the two ran across several posts in what they assumed was the middle of the concentration camp, and there attached to it was the one they had been looking for.

Sokka had to visibly restrain himself from launching himself at her, and he simply crawled over to her, and shook her lightly, "Suki, hello?"

Suki opened her eyes only slightly, and looked at Sokka and smiled before closing her eyes again and going back to sleep. Sokka shook her a little harder this time, and this time her eyes widened all the way, "Sokka is that really you?"

"Yeah," He said, "I'm so glad you're ok."

They hugged tightly, and Sokka couldn't help but cry a little as he did so. Suki wasn't doing much better, and the two silently embraced one another.

Katara watched feeling conflicting emotions. She was happy for Sokka, and so very glad that Suki was all right. She could rest easy now knowing that Suki was going to be fine. However, she felt a sadness welling up inside of her. She had been ignoring Aang for the past couple of days due to her shame of acting so out of line. Aang had never said anything to her, but she could always seem to sense when he looked sadly towards her.

Unfortunately, Katara had to break up the moment between the two of them, "Come on guys, we got to get out of here."

Sokka snapped out of it, and seemed to realize at that moment where exactly they were. He reluctantly let go of Suki, "where are the other warriors?"

"They're right here." Suki raised her arm, showing them the chain, and the down along the lengths of the chain were the other warriors cuffed in a similar fashion. "They were going to starve us and weaken us before letting us go, that way we wouldn't be able to try to effectively escape, even if it were possible." She concluded.

"Yeah well, we're busting you out of here." Sokka said, "Katara, can you break this chain?"

"Definitely," She said as she bended some water from her pouch and began to rapidly slice at the chain. The momentum of the water made it as sharp as a blade, and soon, after many repeated strikes, the chain broke. She then worked on Suki's other hand, and soon Suki was free from her bindings.

"That feels so nice." Suki sighed, rubbing her sore wrists.

Katara went to the other warriors and freed them, and soon they stood in the middle of the camp, Sokka, Katara, Suki, and twelve other Kyoshi Warriors behind her.

"Ok, we have to liberate this camp." Sokka said, "The original plan was to have Zuko and Iroh burn the walls, and houses, and then have Aang and Toph come here in the confusion and kick ass. Now I am not sure if that is such a smart idea."

"Why?" Suki asked.

"Zhao is here."

"Yeah, he brought us here just today."

"I know, but Zuko said that he should have come a few days ago. This changes everything. I don't know if we can do it."

"Well we're not just leaving everyone here to die." Suki whispered harshly.

"And I didn't suggest that!" Sokka whispered back, "But do you have a plan? There are sentries all over the walls, there are over a hundred Fire Nation soldiers here, and I came here knowing that, it's Zhao and his men who really worry me. We're only about 20 people strong, and you and your warriors aren't at full strength. I have no clue how we can do this now with him here."

"You're the idea guy, think of something."

Sokka shook his head, "I don't know." He mumbled, "We're at a huge disadvantage. Maybe we should have tried to talk to King Bumi about this."

Katara wandered around the camp, and saw a small patrol of two men walking around the camp. She turned to Sokka, "Sorry to interrupt you two, but there's a patrol incoming."

Sokka watched them men as they held the torch above their head, laughing and joking with each other as they walked through the horrible conditions of the place. Mind made, Sokka turned to Katara, "Can you incapacitate them without them making a single sound?"

"Easily," Katara said as she went to do that without waiting another beat. The group, affectionately named Team Avatar by Sokka, always listened to everything the boy said. He may occasionally act stupid, but he knew what to do, and when to do it. When he gave an order or anything that even resembled an order, any member of the group just does it without asking for further inquiry into the subject.

And Katara did just that, she got behind the two guards. Years of hiding from the Fire Nation had improved her stealth beyond what anyone thought she could possibly do, and along with her small stature, she was perfect for anything requiring it. If she wanted, she could easily be an assassin with her skills.

And with those skills, she didn't even need to water bend as she leaned forward and jabbed with both hands a pressure point on the back of their necks, knocking both men out instantly.

"There, now what?" She said, looking up as the dozen warriors came and examined the fallen bodies.

"Your training with Ty Lee really paid off." Sokka mumbled, "I should have listened to her more." He decided.

"What do we do with the bodies though?" Katara asked, disregarding what he just said.

"You and Suki wear their uniforms."

Katara raised an eyebrow, "You know Sokka, these guys are much older than us, not to mention that they are men. I doubt their clothing would fit us."

"It doesn't matter; just resemble them from a long distance." He said, removing the armor off one of them, "You and Suki will go up onto the walls, and pick off their sentries. Then with that out of the way we can try to contact Toph, we're not going to use the Fire strategy now, not with Zhao here. We need to contact them a different way… Suki, I will require your Kyoshi Warriors, I have an idea, but it's quite a stretch."

"Girls," Suki turned to the Kyoshi Warriors, "Sokka here is an excellent strategist, please do as he asks, he will get us out of this alive."

They didn't have any objections to that.

"Ok, Katara, Suki, once you get those clothes on follow me. I will show you where to start taking the sentries out."

They nodded, and eventually wore the uniforms, even though they were oversized, bulky, and somewhat heavy.

"I must look ridiculous." Katara muttered.

"Yeah, you do." Sokka shrugged, "Now come on."

"I hope Zuko and Iroh will be able to get out of here." Katara whispered.

"Don't worry, they will." Sokka assured her.

Soon they were at the base of the wall, Sokka looked up the twenty-five foot tall structure, "Ok, Katara, Suki, you do what you do best. Do not get caught." He whispered, "It will ruin everything."

"Leave it to us." Both girls climbed up the wall, which proved to be very difficult, but Katara was able to improvise using her waterbending to dig into the wood and make groves where he feet could go, and Suki followed right behind her.

Once on the wall, they walked side by side, grabbing a torch that was perched at that area, and taking out any others that were there so Sokka could be shrouded in darkness. With that finished, they went about taking out any sentries on the wall.

Down below, Sokka smiled and turned to the Kyoshi Warriors, "Ok, I have a friend outside this wall who can sense things with her feet, like stomping. Unfortunately, all of us stomping simultaneously probably wouldn't reach her, so we need to drop something heavy from up there!" He pointed at the wall, "Then she will sense it and come to us."

"That seems like quite a stretch." One of the warriors admitted.

"I know." Sokka acknowledged, "But it's all we've got, and we have to pray that Toph gets the message. Otherwise we're going to be having a hard time getting out of here. Now, is there anything heavy to drop? Like a gigantic rock?"

"How would we get it up there?"

Sokka nodded, "A good point." He admitted. He began to pace around, the warriors just stood still, awaiting his orders. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, _Damn my mind for coming up with much more difficult ways_! "Ok, can you guys climb up walls too?"

They all nodded.

"Ok, I want two of you to climb up, and go over the wall, and go get them, just go straight from here. They have a giant bison with them, so it's hard to miss. If you do miss it, Toph will be able to find you."

Two of the Kyoshi Warriors began to step forward.

"Ok, when you find them, tell them to come and Earthbend under the wall, we don't want to attract attention, so tell them to leave Appa there. We'll be waiting here." They nodded and went to do their assigned tasks, climbing up the wall, soon to be disappearing into the darkness of the night.

"Now, we just sit and wait for them to return." Sokka said, turning the rest of the women behind him and leaning against the wall. The two girls were halfway up the wall, when suddenly a body fell next to Sokka. He held in his yelp of surprise and looked up to see Katara sheepishly waving down at him. She mouthed sorry and continued to do her job.

Aang was leaning against Appa, impatiently tapping his feet when he heard the bushes near him start to make a sound. He flipped the staff into his grip in both hands, and prepared to attack. At the same moment, Toph glanced over uninterested, "It's just Zuko."

"Zuko?"

"Hey." Zuko said, coming out of the woods, "We got them inside. I came here because uncle said he could handle anything else."

"Why are you here though?" Toph asked.

"Bad news. Zhao is in there; our plans won't go as smooth as we originally thought."

"So?" Toph scoffed, "We'll just finish him right here right now! People won't know it was the Avatar who took the place out if no one makes it out of it alive!"

Both boys gave her a disturbed look.

"I was just joking," She sighed, "You guys are way too serious sometimes."

"So, what does Sokka say we do?" Aang asked, returning to the issue at hand.

Zuko was about to speak, but Toph interrupted, "Hey, someone is coming. Two people," She clarified, feeling the ground with her hand, "And they're coming right towards us."

Everyone got into their stances, but stopped when two Kyoshi Warriors appeared; they were tired, and ragged, but knelt down towards Aang. "Avatar, Sokka said he requested you to come immediately."

"He wants us to make our flashy entrance?" Aang thought aloud.

"No," The girls said, "He wants you and Toph to come. He said go under the wall and meet up with him."

Toph cracked her knuckles, "Finally, some action!"

Aang nodded, "We'll go immediately." The two girls nodded, ready to follow Aang.

"I guess I'll just stay here with Appa." Said bison licked Zuko's back, causing the boy to shudder and glare back at the animal, "None of that."

Aang couldn't help but smile for a small bit, but let it go away as he turned towards the direction of the concentration camp, "Ok, let's do this."

He, Toph, and the two warriors left, determined to be successful in their operation.

Zuko looked towards Momo and Appa, before he shrugged and leaned on the giant bison, "At least I don't have to do anything." Appa grunted, and Zuko glared at him, "You can't be serious. Let them handle it, I could screw it up if I follow them." Another grunt later, Zuko got off the bison, "Fine! If you're so concerned I will follow them!" He stomped towards the path the Avatar had taken to get to the camp, muttering under his breath the entire time.

He stopped for a moment, _I must be going insane, I had a conversation with an animal... _He looked back at Appa, and shook his head before forcing himself to go forward.

"Might as well see what uncle is up to while he's there."

**Chapter five - End**

A/N - Decided to split this into two chapters instead, or else I think it would run over twenty thousand words. I haven't even reached the part with King Bumi, which was in the outline for this chapter. Oh well, next chapter will feature them actually fighting, so hold out for that.

Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 6

A/N – This will be kind of a long Author's note, but I wanted to address why they keep sparing Zhao, since it is the biggest question I think a lot of my readers have. Here's an explanation I gave to one reviewer, so I just decided to put it up for all of you to see:

Aang and Katara didn't lose so much as just hold him off until they could get out of there (At Kyoshi Island). The reason at that they didn't kill him weren't explicitly stated, but there are a few reasons for it. If they had killed Zhao there, the Fire Nation would know something was up, and would commit more resources to hunting down the Avatar, especially if he didn't hold back and use all four elements in his fight, I don't think Azula is what the group needs right now, haha. Secondly, Aang still has his strict 'no-killing' policy from the cartoon series, so everyone abides by that, hence why Katara had to remind Sokka not to kill anyone on Zuko's ship, and a few other examples later on.

Would it have been helpful to kill Zhao and defeat his men there? Yes, they could have done it, and it would have been very helpful in the short term, but in the long term, it probably wouldn't assist them in the slightest, and probably would hinder them more than help them. Right now, Zhao is a pest, and at this point a necessary evil to keep alive so the rest of the Fire Nation thinks that he'll handle the Avatar.

**Chapter six**

Zhao sat still, drinking the wine that was provided for him and his men, though he had his reserves about drinking too much, that soon crumbled away as the night wore on. Soon, he was having a great time, drinking with the men in there. However, it came to a screeching halt when the door opened and a young man came over to Zhao, and took him aside.

They found a corner in the cafeteria building, staying out of hearing range of everyone else. Zhao looked down at the man, annoyed, "What do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to unwind here?"

"I thought you should know, Zuko and Iroh came by about an hour ago, I was curious to see if they were here or not."

"Iroh?" Zhao asked, even though his somewhat hazy mind he could comprehend that much, "What are they doing here?"

"They came with two Water Tribe kids; they said that the two traveled with the Avatar."

"Huh?" Zhao mumbled trying to remember them, "The Waterbending girl, and the one who uses the sword?"

"They said that she couldn't Waterbend," The soldier replied off-handedly, "So they haven't come yet? Huh, they said they wanted to surprise you."

Zhao knew something was wrong; he reached out and gripped the soldier's shoulder hard, "I know she is a Waterbender, if it's the same girl I am thinking of." His mind worked in overdrive to try figure out why Zuko and Iroh would do that, "Raise the alarm." He finally decided, "I will go look for them myself."

"Raise the alarm, sir?" The soldier asked, clearly confused.

"Are you refusing to do a direct order?" Zhao turned back on him threateningly.

"N- No!" He turned around and rushed out of the building. Zhao still was confused, and he cursed himself for drinking even a little bit. Thankfully the buzz was quite small, and his motor skills wouldn't be too noticeably impaired, if at all.

"Men, get out there and look for general Iroh!" He yelled, startling the entire room quiet, "Something is wrong. Get going now!" he shouted again, and the men did as they were asked.

The leader of the camp came up to Zhao, "What is the meaning of this Zhao? Do you think you can run this camp better than I?"

"Get out there Hong, or I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand."

There was a long tension between them before, Hong did as he was asked, and went outside to raise the alarm. Zhao didn't wait much longer before he got there too.

Katara and Suki were silently taking out each person they had come across with ease. Every other torch they would snuff out so they could hide in the darkness, leaving a few lit so the wall wouldn't be suspiciously dark. They had decided to stick together even if they could cover more ground apart, because it meant they had each other's back. Katara walked up to a sentry with his back to her, and he was looking really bored as he looked out across the horizon. With the torch light it only showed a small distance, but he had to do it anyway.

He sighed, and as soon as he did that he felt the whole world go black, and he collapsed to the ground, he tried to call out, but the darkness took over too soon.

Katara looked down, satisfied at her work; Suki just walked over to her and looked at the body.

"Having fun?"

Katara laughed lightly, "Not really. We've taken out over a dozen all ready, and we still have to take out even more."

Suki shrugged, "We have all night, just make sure none of them see us."

Katara nodded and the two continued on their way, but before they could get further, they saw in the distance someone holding a torch running towards them. The flame reflected off the armor they were wearing, and for the first time they were thankful that Sokka forced them to wear it. The darkness covered their features, making them look quite convincing from a distance.

"We're raising alarm!" The man called, seeing them in the distance, "Go pass the message further on!"

Katara deepened her voice as far as it could go and called back, "Right away!"

The man nodded and ran back the way he came, leaving Katara to give a worried look to Suki, "How did they find out about us?"

"I don't know." Suki said, "But we need to get out of here now and get back to Sokka."

There was no argument from Katara there, and the two began to run back the way they came in a mad dash. Upon looking down into the concentration camp, they could see a lot of men carrying torches going through the tents looking inside each one, and they were lighting everything up. Their liberation of the camp was at stake, and worst of all, so was their chance of escaping if it came down to the worst case scenario.

Fortunately, the wall was ironically the darkest area in the whole place, and they were able to make it back without any problems.

Though, without any problems relative to them getting there, Sokka unfortunately was nearly tearing his hair out from all the other problems they now faced. He saw them get there, and his featured relaxed only slightly, "Did they see you?"

"No. We were just doing as you asked and some guy came over and told us to go along the wall to warn the others."

Sokka nodded along, "Maybe Zuko or Iroh did something." He thought aloud, "But they're usually very quiet, considering Zuko is the one who taught all of us stealth…" He mused over his thoughts a little longer before shaking his head, "It doesn't matter anymore, we have big problems now."

"Yeah, what do we do?" Katara asked, prepared to do whatever Sokka said to.

"We wait here for Toph and Aang; they should be here any minute now." He said, and as soon as he said that the earth below their feet rumbled a little bit before a small hole appeared next to Sokka's feet, and out climbed Aang, Toph, and the two Kyoshi Warriors, "Or immediately." Sokka amended.

"Hey Sokka, whatever happened to waiting for a signal?" Toph asked.

"Things have changed." Sokka sighed, "Zhao is here along with a lot of his men. I know that it would be difficult with just the forces already here, but with him here reinforcing it, it makes things a lot more complicated."

"They also know something is wrong." Katara added, "So they're on high alert now."

"We're not sure why; maybe they found Zuko or Iroh." Sokka said.

"Doubtful." Another person said, climbing out of the hole.

"Zuko?" Aang said in mild surprise.

The Kyoshi Warriors quickly surrounded the Firebender, remembering about hearing of a boy named Zuko from General Zhao. Zuko looked around at them, unafraid, but shaken a little bit. Suki waved their stances down, "Don't worry, he's a good guy."

The Warriors slowly lowered their weapons, but their sharp looks never left their faces as they wandered a little ways from Zuko, as if he would lash out at any second.

"Why were you with Aang and Toph?" Sokka asked.

"Uncle told me to go to them, saying he could handle the job we were given. I think the plan has changed though, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," Sokka nodded, "Zhao changed a lot of things, and somehow the alarm has been raised."

"So I heard. I assure you, it wasn't uncle or me. We made sure to avoid anyone within the camp."

"Why are you here anyway?" Aang asked, "I thought you were going to keep Appa company."

"Appa told me to help you guys in his place. So that's why I am here."

Everyone was unsure how to respond to that, so it was largely ignored."Ok, pushing Zuko's apparent insanity aside, we have to make a new plan to rescue everyone here. If it comes right down to it, I think we should just go all out."

To the Kyoshi Warriors, that meant that they would be fighting the Fire Nation head to head, but to the others, it meant giving away their one advantage.

"Are you sure Sokka?" Katara asked.

"No, not really. So far everything I have planned has gone wrong, so really, I might just wing it at this point." He mumbled, "Ok, people, any suggestions?"

"Escape with our lives while we still can?" Zuko said.

"Try to beat every Fire Nation soldier here?" Toph suggested.

"No…" Sokka said, rejecting those, "It has to be something they won't expect…" He said pacing around the group, his hand on his chin as he mumbled constantly to himself. He then blinked a few times, and glanced at Toph, and a grin began to cross his face, "I've got it! Something they won't expect!"

"Come again?" Toph asked.

"Hear me out." He said waving his hands for everyone to gather around him, "They know that Katara and I are here right? So they must be figuring that Aang is coming to get them." They nodded, "So, they wouldn't expect someone else to be traveling with Aang, like Toph for instance, and since she is one of the best Earthbenders we know, we can make this work!"

"The plan Sokka," Katara said, getting him back on track

"Oh, right," He said shaking his head, "Toph is an Earthbender," He reiterated to the group, "What we need to make the people here think is that we're really a huge force of Earthbenders! They will know it's not Aang, because right now he 'can't' Earthbend, so the next logical step from that is for them to think he went to get help from Omashu and they are attempting to liberate the camp!"

"How?" Zuko asked, "I am sure you're aware that Toph is only one person."

"I am getting to that." Sokka said, "Normally, I would throw this plan away, but we have the Kyoshi Warriors with us, and that will make it work. Your outfits are green, the same as the Earth Kingdom Soldiers! They are different shades of green, but in this darkness, it would be extremely difficult for them to even tell, and even then, they won't have time to question it if they did notice when you're lobbing giant rocks at them." He continued before they had another word to say, "Toph, this is going to require you to be at your best."

At this point, everyone could begin to see where this was going.

"You want me and my warriors to pose as Earth Kingdom soldiers?" Suki asked.

"Earthbenders too," Sokka said, "Toph will feel when you stomp your foot," He did just that, "And then she'll feel your body move as you shoot the rock across the distance to hit them!"

"Sokka, you're not a bender, so I doubt you'd understand, but the amount of concentration needed, and the amount of precise timing for that to work is almost impossible. I know Toph is a skilled Earthbender, but to do that? I am sorry, but-" Katara was cut off by Toph.

"Shut it Sugar Queen. I am the one who knows my own abilities, and I can do it."

"But you can't be serious. It's thirteen of them. You will need to feel each individual one stomping, and then feel when they punch forward. I don't think you could do it alone."

"I will help her." Aang said, "I think we could pull it off."

"Aang, please-"

"I'm sorry Katara, but it's the best we've got. I think bluffing is the only way we can win."

Katara looked him straight in the eyes, and after a few seconds she sighed crossing her arms, "Fine, but only because it's the only way." She then added as an afterthought, "I never thought I'd be happy for a new moon…"

"I suppose you want me to find my uncle and get out of here?" Zuko asked.

"Actually, no." Sokka said, "It would be way too suspicious if you were gone when this was all happening, especially since a guard saw you come and go. I'm sure by now he has told others that you were here. I want you and your uncle to go find Zhao, and help him try to fend off the attack."

"What?"

"You're right." Sokka sighed, shaking his head, before he hit Zuko on the head as hard as he could, nearly knocking him out cold, "There, that should do it."

Zuko's world was spinning, but he was pissed, "Wha- What was-, uh…" He would have collapsed, but Toph used some quick Earthbending to keep him upright.

"You need a reason for not coming to see Zhao so soon." He said, "You were knocked out by a prisoner and just woke up." He smiled, "It's also payback for you beating me at the South Pole."

Zuko groaned, feeling the vertigo going away, and he reached up, feeling the now visible bump on the top of his head, "A little warning next time, please."

Sokka shrugged, "So everyone knows what they have to do?" When there were no objections to the plan, he smiled, "All right, Toph, Aang, take the Kyoshi Warriors to the perimeter around the camp. Katara and I will stay in here and help the prisoners escape. Zuko, go find your uncle and get to Zhao, and be sure to fill your uncle in on the plan when you do find him." He let out a sigh, "Good luck everyone."

With that, they all separated to do their specific task.

Zuko, still a little disoriented from the blow, stumbled through the shadows as he searched for his uncle. His mind was jumbled, but he knew that the next time he saw Sokka he was going to punch him in the face. He smiled at that, and slowly his thoughts began to make sense to him again. He was hurt; the wound was clearly visible on his buzzed head, so why was he travelling in the shadows? He quickly remedied that and began to not attempt to hide.

He looked all over for his uncle, and then his heart stopped when he heard his name being called by the one man he didn't wish to see.

"Zuko, what a nice surprise to see you here."

"Likewise." Zuko simply said, turning towards Zhao.

"You can drop the act, but I want to know." He closed the distance between the two of them within seconds, grabbing Zuko's neck, "Why did you let the Waterbender into the camp?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really now, you had no idea that the girl that traveled with the Avatar was a Waterbender?" Zhao scoffed at that, "Doubtful. Unless if you really are an idiot."

"Zhao! Let him go. Can't you see he's disoriented enough as it is? He was clearly knocked unconscious and just woke up recently." Iroh said, walking towards them.

"Why weren't you with your dear nephew then, General?" He let go of Zuko who stumbled a bit, but managed to regain his senses and went over to his uncle.

"That doesn't matter!" Zuko said pushing the issue aside, "They're attempting to free the prisoners here! We have to stop them!"

Zhao glared at him, "This place will not fall because of two lousy children." He laughed, "It figures that you'd have trouble with them however."

"General Zhao!" A soldier came up to him, "we're being attacked from the North!"

"By whom?" Zhao asked, temporarily ignoring both Iroh and Zuko.

"Earth Kingdom soldiers, we don't know how they found out about this place, but they're here."

Zhao bit back a curse, "Get everyone to the wall. We will defend this place from whatever they can throw at us!"

"Yes sir." The soldier didn't even look back as he ran to warn the others.

"You two, I know you did something." He turned to Zuko and Iroh, "And you're going to explain to me why you would betray the Fire Nation."

"I would never betray my Nation!" Zuko shouted, glaring daggers at the older man.

"Let us argue another time, there are much more pressing matters right now." Iroh said, getting in between the two of them, "I assure you Zhao, Zuko and I have only the best intentions of the Fire Nation at heart, you needn't worry about us betraying you."

Zhao glared down at the old man, and spat, "Whatever. Get on the walls now, if you support your country that is."

Zuko growled, but obeyed the order anyway, following Zhao to the wall. Iroh glanced curiously at Zuko, and as soon as they were far behind Zhao, but still following, he turned to his nephew, "What is going on?"

"Sokka changed the plan at the last minute. The force attacking is just a dozen women. It's Toph and Aang who will be Earthbending. The darkness will cover them, so that shouldn't be a problem, even if fire gets close to them. Toph and Aang should be able to handle it. We're to go with Zhao, and just try to prove that we're still loyal to the Fire Nation. Sokka and Katara are still in the camp, getting the prisoners out." He explained in hushed whispered, going as quickly through the plan as he could.

"I see." Iroh nodded, "So you're bluffing?"

"Yes."

"Smart idea," Iroh said smiling, "Your friend is quite intelligent."

"That's why we always go to him for ideas." Zuko said, "Don't tell him that, he has a tendency to get a big ego if you compliment him for it too much, and that gets pretty annoying."

"Get up here now!" Zhao shouted to them, they're all ready-" A large boulder smashed into the wall, nearly breaking through it, "We cannot let the wall fall! Do not let them through!" He shouted, forgetting about Zuko and Iroh for the moment.

Zuko breathed in and out a few times, _I hope they can emulate a real army, or else we're really screwed. _With that grim thought in his mind, he walked up the stairs to the top of the crammed wall, looking down at the wooded area in front of them.

"Fire!" Zhao shouted, the Firebenders all began to shoot indiscriminately. Fortunately for the Kyoshi Warriors, they were spared the barrage of fire when a large stone pillars erupted from the ground in front of the woods, blocking all the fire. Then the stone began to fire rocks like bullets, most of the rocks that it shot out harmlessly hit the wall, but the ones that did hit the soldiers did their job well.

Zhao felt one hit him on the shoulder, and immediately a wave of pain went through him. He didn't let out any sign that he was in pain, but he knew it would bruise, and he thanked Agni that he was wearing his armor to prevent it from possibly cutting right through him. Unfortunately, some of his men were knocked unconscious, and a few others were looking pretty bad, with gaping wounds exposed.

"Don't allow them time to do that!" Zhao shouted, clearly annoyed at the direction the battle was taking, "How many are there?"

"Unclear." One of his men asked, ducking down under a rock that nearly blew his head off, "They're hiding in the woods, and when we try to see who they are from the flames they prevent it from getting close to them!"

"Can you give me an estimate?" Zhao snarled.

"A few dozen maybe," He said, sending a blast of fire towards the Earthbenders.

Down on the ground in the woods, Aang and Toph were having the most intense work out their twelve year old bodies have ever experience. Every time they felt one of the Kyoshi Warriors stomp into the ground, they had to split their concentration from what they were doing, and consciously raise a small amount of earth in front of the girl. Then when she struck out, they had to launch it. Dividing that up by thirteen, plus doing a bunch on their own to simulate a larger attack force was without a doubt, the hardest thing they have done in this lifetime.

Even Toph was having trouble with it, lagging behind a few seconds whenever a girl stomped, and was having trouble concentrating on so many people. Somehow though, she was pulling through. Aang on the other hand, was not doing nearly as well. Unlike Toph, he couldn't feel vibrations as well as her, and rather depended on his sight more to tell him when the warriors needed to a new rock to launch.

Needless to say, for both of them it was difficult.

Mercifully, when the Firebenders began to shoot down at them, Toph stepped forth and created a large rock wall to stop all incoming fire, and that gave them a small time to rest. Toph went up though, and began to pound the wall, sending smaller rocks from it like speeding bullets. Aang winced as he could have sworn he could hear it hitting several people, and it didn't make a pleasant sound.

"Try not to kill anyone Toph." He whispered to her.

"I'm trying, but controlling this many projectiles goes beyond my own ability to detect where they'll land. I'm sorry if I hurt anyone too badly."

Aang sighed, "It's all right, just do what you have to do."

When the wall was completed used up, the battle began to become most intense, instead of all of them launching their fire in one area, the Firebenders attempted to get the flames behind the warriors, but thankfully Aang and Toph's masterful control of their element allowed them to keep each of them safe. The fire would occasionally land dangerously close to one of them, but it served two benefits in the long run. The fire showed a brief glimpse of green, making them think it was really the Earth Kingdom forces, and it showed that there were quite a few of them in the woods.

Another boulder hit the wall, and it began to come down, the wooden supports unable to hold the overflowing amount of Firebenders gathered atop it. Seeing this, the Kyoshi Warriors pressed their advantage, not giving them a second to recover as they got away from the collapsing section of the wall. Several people were still atop of it when it completely fell, making a gruesome crashing noise with a combination of flesh and wood.

At this point, the Firebenders were beginning to panic, their one advantage against the Earthbenders literally crumbling before them as another boulder hit the wall.

"We have to get out of here!" General Hong shouted, "Men, run!"

"No!" Zhao turned to the other general, "You will not allow us to lose this day!"

"We've already lost a dozen men from just a few minutes of fighting," Hong spat, "We don't have the numbers to contend with them!"

"Coward!" Zhao shouted.

Toph down on the ground heard that amongst the chaos, and despite Aang's words for her to not intentionally kill anyway, she made an exception here. She kicked the ground; a large rock flew up into her grasp. Holding it, she waited to hear his voice once again.

"You think the Fire Lord will act kindly towards this defeat?" Zhao looked at Hong threateningly, "I will end you myself if it comes to that!"

Toph, hearing him again, threw the rock with all her Earthbending prowess, hoping for a direct hit on the man's head, ending the terror known as Zhao.

Hong glared at Zhao, "You think you're doing the right thing by killing us all tonight?"

"It's better than losing favor." Zhao returned insistently, "Which is all you'll accomplish by-"

At this point Zhao had leaned forward to get face to face with the other general to threaten him, but due to that, the rock that would have been an instant kill grazed the back of his head, leaving a bloody trail as a reminder of how close he was to dying.

Shocked, Zhao felt the back of his head, and when he saw his hand covered with blood, he blinked a few times, too dazed by the near death experience to think straight.

"We need to get out of here!" Hong said again, "The next one could kill you! They WILL kill us once they see these living conditions!" He was practically begging, "Please Zhao! We need to escape while we still can."

"R- Right." Zhao said, for the first time since he could remember sounding unsure of himself.

"Good." Hong sighed, "We'll leave a few men behind to hold off the advance, claim that they are doing it for the glory of the Fire Nation or something." Hong decided, "Come Zhao, we need to get out of here."

"Listen up men; we need to get out of here! I am going to have to ask a few of you to stay behind and hold them off while we escape! Will anyone volunteer?" He called, looking at all the people.

"My uncle and I will." Zuko called, amazed that an opportunity to slip away from Zhao had presented itself so easily to them.

After that, a few other men stayed behind to cover the retreat. Once they were far enough away, Zuko let out a small sigh, and felt like he could fall over from relief. He turned to his uncle and allowed himself to smile. They had gotten lucky, if Zhao wasn't so dazed, he probably would have questioned their motives.

_Actually, _Zuko began to think, _If the rock had actually killed him, we would have been really lucky. _He thought of it for a few seconds before pushing the morbid thought aside, and he turned to the remaining dozen or so men who stayed behind. They looked terrified, and if the moment weren't so intense, Zuko would have laughed.

"We can do it guys, for the glory of the Fire Nation!" One of the soldiers said. There was a small chorus of cheers from the others, and their confidence rose quite a bit.

Zuko rolled his eyes at their bravado, and decided to end this quickly. He went over, and as quickly as he could, he began to knock them out. Even though he didn't know Ty Lee's fighting style, he had a rough idea of where the pressure points were, and even better, he knew if he hit them in the head hard enough, it wouldn't really matter.

And like that, it was just Zuko and his uncle on top of the wall.

"Oh no, the Earth Kingdom has come. Oh joy." Zuko said turning to his uncle, "What should we do?"

Iroh glanced at his nephew, "I suggest we talk to them and issue our terms of surrender."

"If we must," Zuko sighed dramatically.

The two walked down the damaged stairs, and crossed through the hole in the wall of the encampment.

"Don't worry, you completely fooled them." Zuko said, "They're gone."

Aang was the first to walk out of the woods, followed by Toph, Suki, and then the rest of the warriors. The Kyoshi Warriors looked as they did before, though now their make-up was completely gone, and they clothes were a little ragged. Aang and Toph looked like they went through hell and came back in one piece. Both were sweating profusely, and Aang looked like he was going to go out at any second.

"I tried to hit Zhao," Toph said reluctantly, "Did I get him?"

"You barely missed, but it did make him dazed, and he didn't seem to notice that uncle and I stayed back to 'cover' their retreat." Zuko explained.

Toph sighed, "I was so sure I got him."

"Anyway," Aang said, getting off the topic, "Are they all gone?"

"Like I said earlier, they retreated. I am assuming they're going to the Fire Nation port a little ways away, but it's nothing we should worry about right now."

Suki let out a sigh, "I am so glad we managed to pull that off."

The mere mentioning of the feat they just pulled off seemed to completely exhaust both Aang and Toph, who both fell down to the ground. Toph was just cooling off, but Aang was completely knocked out.

"You guys look after them," Suki said to her warriors, "Zuko, Iroh, and I will go look for Sokka and Katara."

Further in the camp, Sokka and Katara were busy trying to convince the people that they could escape. Unfortunately for both of them, the people who had suffered these living conditions had lost almost all hope. Some had been there for over a year, but the newer ones, the ones who had been there a little more than a month or less were much more receptive to Sokka and Katara's plea for them to get out of there.

"Please," Katara tried again, "You can get out now, the Fire Nation is busy fighting!"

"They'll be back." Was the typical response that had been repeated over and over that night.

Katara forced herself to calm down before she began to pull her hair out. She knew that they had suffered from a lot of things, and the last thing she wanted to do was explode on them.

"Come on people! You can do this! We can travel back to Omashu and get you guys cleaned up, and you can even have a decent meal!" Sokka paused, "Wait, the Fire Nation had food for themselves here right?" He asked turning to Katara.

"I wouldn't know." She shrugged, "But I guess so."

"Right! These people need to eat a real meal – we'll give them the Fire Nation's stock!"

Katara nodded along to it, it might not work, but at this point she was getting a little desperate. The two left the center of the camp and went towards where they saw most of the Fire Nation soldiers gathering near the main gate to the place. They entered one of the buildings, and found a bunch of half eaten food within the building they had gone into, the cafeteria.

"They were eating like the Earth King while people out there were starving." Sokka mumbled, picking up a half eaten chicken, "I can't believe they can live with themselves like that." Looking around to make sure Katara wasn't looking; he took a quick bite out of it, savoring the taste, _that's what I get for not eating for three days straight._

"Is there some cart we can use to bring it to them? Or do you think they will be willing to come here themselves?" Katara said, plowing through the building, looking at everything.

"I don't know I think we'll have to bring it to most of them, but some of the ones who haven't been here quite so long should probably be willing to come here on their own." Sokka said, biting into the chicken again.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted, seeing him eating it, "They need it more than us, don't eat that!"

"Sorry, I am just really hungry!" He said, putting it down.

Katara sighed, "You should have eaten." It was spoken softly, but the hidden meaning behind the words hit Sokka like Appa landing on top of him. His appetite at that moment suddenly dropped, and the guilt from the previous week began to flood through him.

"Katara… I'm sorry." He said, unsure of what else to say, "My behavior during the past week has been inexcusable."

"Yeah," Katara agreed light heartedly, "It was."

"Look, we'll talk about this later, but I just want you to know that I would never hurt you." Sokka said looking away.

She crossed the gap between them and hugged her brother, "I wouldn't hurt you either."

Sokka embraced her as well, feeling the guilt and uncertainty from the past few days begin to wash away. Unfortunately, washing away guilt meant that his senses weren't at their highest, and he didn't notice someone coming to the building until the door slammed open and in came a man rushing to grab something.

"Where is it, where is it." He mumbled to himself looking all over the place, and then he noticed the two children in front of him. Both of them were wearing the Water Tribe clothes, and he knew instantly that they were the enemy, he quickly raised his fist to send a fireball towards them, but suddenly felt the coldness of water wrapping around his arm.

Katara twisted his arm back with her Waterbending, allowing Sokka to move in and take him out easily. Not letting their guard down, Katara brought her water back and the two stood over the man.

"Who do you think he was?" Katara asked.

"Well, judging from his armor, I would say he was a pretty high ranking officer here."

"We're lucky we were able to surprise him then."

Sokka laughed at that, "Are you kidding me? He was screwed either way!" He then turned serious again, "But why was he here? Aren't the Kyoshi Warriors supposed to be providing a distraction?"

They both snuck up to the window of the building and glanced out, and to their surprise they saw a large group of Firebenders fleeing the camp, and to their surprise, among them was Zhao, who now had a bandage wrapped around his head. It seemed that none of them realized the man on the ground next to them was missing.

"The bluff paid off!" Sokka said in an excited whisper, "They're leaving; I can't believe we actually pulled this off!"

"We faced down the Earth King's royal guards when we were just kids Sokka," Katara reminded him, but she too was smiling, "It's not beyond our power."

"Yeah, but that time we didn't have as many complications." Sokka said, crossing his arms defiantly, looking away.

"Right, so, what do we do now?"

"Well, we can finally relax for one thing." Sokka said, his shoulders slumping a little bit, "Let's brings some food back and give everyone here the good news."

Katara nodded, grabbing a few handful of fruits off the tables surrounding her, and hold onto them. Sokka brought some fruit as well, even though he really wanted to bring some of the meat out, it was just a lot more practical to bring out the fruit instead.

Once they were fully loaded, they went out to the prisoners-turned-refugees, and handed out the food, while Sokka began to explain the situation to everyone. At first they were met with disbelief and the same amount of disinterest as before, but when Suki, Zuko, and Iroh came to them and told them the situation, the people began to entertain the idea of hope.

Though they didn't have much food on them, Sokka and Katara handed out the fruit they had brought, and gave it to several of the people who looked worse off than the others. With that out of the way, the group of five huddled together.

"We need to get them to Omashu." Katara stated.

"Yeah, we'll feed them here with what the Fire Nation has then we can lead them to the city. It's a few days walk, but with Appa we can give a ride for the most sick and the elderly." Sokka explained.

"Ok, but what are we going to do with all the Fire Nation soldiers left behind?" Zuko asked.

"Allow me to deal with that." Iroh said, "I will stay behind and lead these men back to the port, but I will be sure to burn this place to the ground before I do so. You have my word."

"Good." Sokka nodded, "Well, first mission of Team Avatar is a success!" Sokka cheered, "Go Team Avatar!"

Iroh looked a little perplexed by the name, but the others groaned in annoyance, "Sokka, I doubt it will catch on." Suki said.

"I will make it catch on." Sokka said, "And the whole world will soon know of our power! We will stop the Fire Nation this time, and nothing's going to stop us!"

No one disagreed with that, having saved the camp from quite a large force they were all on a high note at the moment. At that moment, it felt as if they could take on the entire Fire Nation right there. Saving these people was their first steps towards saving the world once more, and hopefully, they wouldn't fail this time.

**Chapter six - End**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven**

The sun was just rising on the horizon of Omashu, showing off the majestic city as people began to awake to get to their errands. Shops were beginning to open, children were just starting to wake up, and the guards stationed at the front gates were still bored out of their minds. They would be stationed there for another two hours, and they couldn't wait until their shift was passed to the next unfortunate duo to take the boring task.

However, that morning, their boring task suddenly became a lot more interesting when the road leading to the city began to be filled with hundreds of people. At first they thought it was just a coincidence that so many people were traveling together on the same day, but it soon became apparent that they were all of the same group, their ragged clothing and appearance easily gave it away. Both of the guards looked in shock at each other, never seeing a group of refugees this large come to their city before.

Soon enough though, the one leading the group came in the forefront. A little bald kid with an arrow tattoo on his forehead and an equally noticeable smile as he waved at the two of them, "Hey, it's you two again, how are you guys doing?"

Aang couldn't help be laugh as he watched their dumbfound expressions widen in disbelief. It soon became apparent however that nothing was going to be said any time soon, so Aang took the initiative.

"My friends and I liberated a concentration camp a few days away from here. These people are sick, and a lot of them need medical attention. The ones worst off are on my flying bison. Can you guys please arrange some doctors to come check these people out?"

"O- Of course!" One of them finally sputtered, and he ran full speed into the city to do just that. The other one nodded his head towards Aang.

"I will go alert the King about them as well, I'm sure he'd want to know, please wait here, we will have someone to escort these people to the hospital as soon as possible." He bowed once more to Aang before rushing into the city too.

"They're finally showing you some respect." Toph said walking up next to Aang, "It took them long enough!"

"It was all of us who did it Toph; I don't want to take all the credit for myself."

"Whatever Twinkle Toes," Toph said in disgust, "You always have to be so modest! Why? You deserve to bask in your glory every once in a while - as long as you don't force me to acknowledge it!" She said laughing.

Aang grinned as he turned towards Toph as he waited for the guards to return to allow them access into the city. He couldn't say he wasn't proud of his group, because that would be an outright lie. A few nights ago they had gone against impossible odds, and came out on top, saving hundreds of people from a horrible fate.

Everyone played their essential role in the victory, and even now they kept up their roles. Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors would go through the refugees, providing them with food and water, and also acting as the security force. Katara meanwhile was healing as many people as she could with her Waterbending, Toph would be at the front of the group making sure the pathway didn't have anything people could harm themselves over, smoothing out the road if she had to.

Sokka made sure they made it to the city in a timely manner, while Zuko assisted the Kyoshi Warriors with their job. Iroh had stayed behind to destroy the camp, and help the Fire Nation soldiers there get out all right, and Aang was at the front, leading the entire group of people numbering over a hundred, maybe even two hundred.

In other words, they were very organized, and a very powerful force to be reckoned with.

The front gates of the city began to open wide, and Aang walked along side Toph as the two children began to lead the large group behind them into the great city.

"Avatar, we will take them off your hands for you." A guard said, stepping forth from his formation, "We shall lead these people to the hospital in a timely manner."

"Thank you," Aang said bowing down to the man, who politely returned it as well. They stepped aside as the guards began to lead the people to their salvation. Aang had a light smile on his face, and even Toph was in a good mood, as evident when she punched him with a 'good job' thrown in. Aang knew that when Toph complimented his performance, he did exceptionally well.

Aang and Toph began to walk down the path of refugees, watching as the Kyoshi Warriors began to regroup at a different area. They spotted Suki among them, who waved at them. Aang waved back, and walked over to the group.

"Good job." Aang said bowing down to the Kyoshi Warriors, "I know Avatar Kyoshi would be proud of you girls."

"Thank you Avatar Aang," Suki bowed back to him, "That means a lot coming from you." The other Warriors did not miss a step, and bowed at the same time Suki did. Even though Suki and Aang were on first name basis, and were the best of friends, she had to keep up the act in front of the other Kyoshi Warriors; otherwise they would wonder why she would show blatant disrespect to the Avatar.

It didn't take long for Sokka and Zuko to meet up with them, and of the two of them, Sokka was unable to hide his incredibly good mood. He had his arm wrapped around Zuko's shoulder, and he was laughing hysterically, probably telling a really lame joke then, if Zuko's face was any indication to go by.

"Hey, how are you guys doing?" Sokka asked, "I'm just in a great mood." He didn't even attempt to hide his loving smile towards Suki from the other Warriors, making them cast their leader with suspicious glances.

Suki however didn't care either. Any restraints she was holding collapsed when he came near, and the two embraced each other like they hadn't seen each other in years. The two didn't break the embrace any time soon; they began to eye one another lovingly.

Zuko coughed into his hand, ruining the moment however, "You two can do that later. We have more important things to do now."

"Ah, yeah, you're right." Suki said, regaining her bearings. She felt herself blush a little when the Kyoshi Warriors started to giggle behind her.

Sokka didn't look happy about being taken apart from Suki, but decided it was better to just let it slide, considering all the good that was happening to them right now. "Ok, we can talk later." He said, winking at Suki, causing the girls to start laughing, Zuko to groan in annoyance, and Suki to blush even more than she was before, but she still had a sly smile on her face.

"Wow, I'm not one for this mushy crap." Toph said, "Where can I go fight again?"

"There's always time for mushy crap, Toph," Aang said, "You seem to enjoy doing it every once in a while."

Though the Kyoshi Warriors didn't know what he was referring to, Sokka and Suki both began to laugh, while Toph huffed with her face a red tint, but Zuko coughed into his hands upon hearing that, trying to pay attention to anything else at the moment.

"Where do you think Katara is?" Toph said, desperately changing the subject.

"She was on Appa with the sick." Aang said, looking to the sky, "I don't see her though. She did make it to the city before us I thought." Aang wondered aloud.

"I did." They all turned to see Katara walked towards them, "I landed Appa near the hospital, and allowed the doctors to take the patients in. I helped for a little while, but they said they could handle it once the people seem to be improving, so I left to come find you guys."

"Just in time too." Aang laughed, "We just got here."

"We should celebrate our first victory." Sokka said, "Is there a bar anywhere here we can go to? I could really use a drink after all of that."

Suki's eye twitched, but she didn't say anything, not wanting her Warriors to think she had been in a relationship with Sokka for more than fifteen years. Thankfully, she didn't have to say any, allowing Katara to do it for her.

Katara smacked her brother's head, "Drinking again Sokka?" She sighed, "I can't believe that is all you can think about right now."

"Hey, hey, it's a time to celebrate. What better way than to get smashed?" Sokka asked.

"I can think of a few hundred." Aang muttered, he shuddered at the last time he had to deal with a drunk Sokka, and nearly let out a yelp of terror when he remembered dealing with a drunken Toph, _Now that's a scary thought. _

"We're not going to do that." Katara insisted stubbornly, "We're underage if you don't remember Sokka." She said.

"We have the Avatar with us." Toph said, "I'm sure they would make an exception for us!"

"No." Zuko stated, "I think we better try to stay sober for a while."

"You're such a killjoy Zuko." Toph sighed, crossing her arms.

"Dealing with you when you're drunk is one of my worst fears now." He said in a small voice, "I will never forget that time when Ty Lee thought the wine was water and gave it to you..." He shook, "I don't ever want to be with you when you're drunk."

"You guys are such Sour Pusses." She sighed, "Fine. We won't drink; I guess my body couldn't handle it anyway."

"Good." Katara said, "Let's just rest for today, and tomorrow we'll see the King of Omashu first thing in the morning."

"We should see him today." Zuko disagreed, "We can't afford to waste time."

"Don't worry about it," Sokka said waving it off, "We have more than enough time to relax every once in a while."

"That is what you guys said when you wanted to wait for the comet," He whispered so the Kyoshi Warriors wouldn't hear, "We can't afford to wait."

"This is totally different." Aang persisted, "We have time Zuko, I know every element by heart now. I am practically a fully realized Avatar. Our goal is still the same, but the time limit to achieve it is over half a year, you just need to relax."

"Relax?" Zuko whispered, but stopped himself, "Fine. You're right. I'm just getting worked up over nothing." He decided.

"That's good." Aang nodded, "You really need to lighten up."

Zuko didn't trust himself to not snap out at Aang for that, so he just kept his mouth shut.

Sokka though looked like he was deciding something, his eyes traveling to the lower corner of his eye, and he was biting his lip. It wasn't entirely noticeable, but for his sister who had known him for decades, she saw it instantly, "Sokka, what's on your mind?"

He sighed, "I want to apologize."

"For what?" Aang asked.

"For being such an idiot after Kyoshi Island." At this point, Aang, Toph, and Katara were all listening, "I was wrong to do that. I was sad, but I let it completely consume me, and I wasn't being myself. Katara, I said I didn't need your love and nearly fought you-"

"That was my fault-" Katara tried to intervene.

"No. You hit me, but it was my words that made you do it. I am in the wrong here. I should never have thrown your words of comfort back in your face like that. I'm sorry Katara."

"It's ok Sokka." Katara said, patting him on the back.

"Aang, the same goes for you. I wasn't helping you at all, and I became a liability to your journey. I promise that it will not happen to me again."

"Don't worry about it; sometimes it's best to let your emotions all out." Aang shrugged, "I knew you'd eventually come around. I didn't know it was such extreme measures to do it," he laughed a little, "But you're normal again, and that is all I can ask for."

"Toph." Sokka turned to her, "Sorry for making the trip no fun for you up until now."

"Hey, I only regret not being there for the drama unfolding in the first place." Toph said, "But I forgive you anyway."

Suki chose that point to hug Sokka, which eventually lead into all five of them hugging each other. They looked expectantly over at Zuko.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. I wasn't even a part of that at all."

"Being part of the group means being part of the group hugs." Aang recited the words that they always used when he refused.

He tried to be annoyed at that, but only felt glad that he was with such good friends. At one point in his life he would have never wanted this, but that time had passed. Zuko knew what his inner strength came from, and he knew that with his friends, he would be able to restore honor to the Fire Nation. He walked forth and wrapped his arms around his friends, and closed his eyes, and for the first time since coming back he felt content.

He would help Aang and his friends restore balance to the world, no matter who opposed him.

The city was understandably in an uproar over all the people arriving at once, but as news of the situation began to filter through the gossip that it was the Avatar who saved these people from a dire situation, their attitude began to change towards assisting these new people. Some of them were former residents of Omashu, and on more than one occasion a family was fully restored.

Throughout the night though, Aang refused to take part in the nearly city-wide celebration of the Avatar's return, as well as the return of their friends and family. When asked why by his friends, he would say that he didn't like parties, and that they deserved it as much as he did. So that is why he sat alone in the inn room Zuko had gotten, while everyone else was out having a good time. _Probably dragged Zuko along. _Aang thought, laughing a little.

He sat on the bed, looking out the window down at all the people walking through the streets chatting loudly over the news of the day, walking to where the celebration was to be held. His gaze looked up towards all the buildings that were yet to be destroyed, _won't be destroyed. _He corrected himself, before looking away. _What kind of Avatar fails as much as I have? _His thoughts began to spiral into his depressing state; _I failed all these people once before, so many happy people. _He let out a soft sigh before he turned his head away towards the doorway, shaking his head violently as if to erase the thoughts.

When he turned his head towards the door, he was surprised to see Katara leaning against it, just watching him quietly. She had cleaned up a great deal, since the past week they had been unable to bathe or do anything hygienic before the mission began, but now her hair was not covered in dirt and was dripping wet still, her skin was much cleaner than if she'd have done it with Waterbending, and she wore an Earth Kingdom robe.

"Have a fun bath?" Aang asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah," She answered, "It feels really nice to be clean again." She attempted to dry her hair with her towel again, before giving it up and bending the water out.

"Sounds nice," Aang agreed, "Has Sokka and Suki taken theirs yet?" He knew Zuko did it the moment he came here, and Toph would never agree to such a thing.

"They took one together a while ago." She watched as Aang showed visible shock, "Yeah, I know, they're still young, blah blah, but I just let it slide this one time. You wouldn't believe it either, but Toph took one too, saying something about not wanting to look _too _dirty." She leaned forward a little bit and whispered, "I think she just didn't want Zuko to avoid her due to smell." She giggled at that, and walked towards him, "So it's just you now."

Aang nodded, "Yeah, I suppose I'll go now. Thank you Katara."

She paused and sighed, "What's wrong Aang?"

"What?"

"No, don't act like something's not wrong. I've been with you long enough to know when something is bothering you." She crossed her arm, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I don't think you'd like to hear it." He said honestly.

"It's about you feeling inadequate as the Avatar then?" He didn't even open his mouth before she raised her hand, "I have told you hundreds, maybe thousands of times already, that you're doing the best you can. I also see my words haven't gotten through to you though." She looked hurt.

"N- No!" He shouted, "I know I'm doing my best, but it's just that my best never really is any good, no wait." He cursed, that came out wrong.

She sighed, "Just go take a bath Aang."

He nodded, not wanting their conversation to deteriorate so fast after she finally started speaking to him again. He walked out of the room, shutting the door softly, and looked around the hallway, where the one bathroom of the inn was.

Bathrooms in the Earth Kingdom were quite a novelty, only shared mostly among the rich. For an inn such as this to even afford one showed that the owner was quite wealthy. Why he sold his rooms at such cheap prices baffled Aang though. The rest of the city's population, those not of the high class, went to the bathhouses located sparsely around the city to clean themselves. They were almost always crowded, but it provided a way for everyone to stay clean.

Aang's thoughts wandered away as he entered the bathroom, and began to take his bath.

The warm water soothed him, and his negative thoughts melted away as he just relaxed there. The comfortable heat making his eyes begin to get heavy. It must have been an hour later when he opened his eyes, and he shot up, realizing that he had dozed off. He sighed and got out, using Airbending to dry his body off. He then took one of the robes provided for people, and picked up his decidedly dirty clothes, knowing he would have to clean them later.

For now though, he wandered back to the room, and upon seeing no one there, he sat down on the bed and closed his eyes again.

"Why am I here?" Zuko asked himself for the hundredth time as he was being dragged across the city's hastily set up festivals by a very over active Toph. The two of them had bought new clothing with Zuko's remaining Earth Kingdom money, and he deeply regret it, the new clothes he got were a far cry from the rags he got at the port, and he looked like some sort of rich Earth Kingdom resident, and for some reason, that didn't sit well with Zuko.

His thoughts wandered to his boat and how his crew must be handling things, they must not be minding the extended vacation, since it was the very first time they had ever gotten more than two days to themselves in any such port in recent memory. Sure, it wasn't the nicest place to have a vacation at, but when they have been at sea for most of their year, the quality does matter quite as much.

Thinking of his crew inevitably led to thoughts about his uncle, and he knew he shouldn't feel worried, but thoughts of his uncle had plagued him since he left him at the camp. He knew he shouldn't be worried, yet it still wouldn't leave his mind. He decided to ignore the angst that was beginning to build up within himself and enjoy his time here. If he could anyway.

Toph made him spend all his money, but she promised him that she could pay for everything else, so he had allowed himself to buy these clothes. He did admit she looked cute in her kimono, even if she was barefoot, and he did feel good about doing it for her, which brought another wave of uncomfortable thoughts to his head about the young girl pulling him along the streets. Unlike Sokka and Suki, and Aang and Katara, he and Toph were a little further apart. It wasn't unheard of for married people to have such an age difference, in fact, it was quite common.

Zuko shook his head again, _why in the world would I be thinking of marriage? _He looked at Toph, and immediately imagined her laughing at him for having such sissy thoughts, as she would call them.

He had to examine deeply inside of himself though, did he care for Toph in that way? He mused over it, remembering Mai, and how he and she were in a relationship. Mai and Ty Lee even travelled with them over the world with them for quite a long time, until they died. He grimaced at the last thought, they had been caught in the Fire Nation, going under the stupid idea of the enemy would never expect them right under their noses. Of course, it seemed to prove incorrect. They had been attacked at night, and if it hadn't been for Aang staying awake, he doubted any of them would have escaped.

There were so many assassins there to try and kill them that in the end Mai and Ty Lee stayed behind to hold them off while they escaped. Zuko felt his heart beat heavily in his chest at the memory. Those two girls betrayed his sister to assist them, and even taught them a lot of their abilities. Losing them was like losing a part of himself, and he didn't have any doubt that the rest of his friends felt the same way.

He returned to his original analysis of his relationship with Toph, trying to figure out how he felt for her. She was always blunt, rude, obnoxious, arrogant, and the list could go on. He then tried to think of her good qualities, she was honest, confident, powerful, and she truly cared for her friends.

He sighed, maybe he could decide this another time, his head was beginning to hurt with all these thoughts running rampart through his mind.

"Hey, your heartbeat is going wild," Toph said, turning to him, "What's on your mind?"

"A lot of things," He answered truthfully, easily evading the real question, and not lying at the same time.

"A lot of things are always on your mind." She said laughing, "Let's go get something to eat; you have to be hungry right?"

He thought for a bit, "I guess so."

"Good!" She turned towards a stand selling a weird doughy substance that was round and sugary. He looked down at Toph, and held in his sigh, he should have known she would go for the sweets instead of real food.

"Here Zuko!" She said, handing him one, "I said I would buy everything else for the evening. I meant it."

Zuko looked wide eyed at her, surprised at her genuine gesture.

_Maybe there's more to her than I first imagined. _He thought, taking the sticky dough and taking a bite out of it, and his eyes lit up, "Wow, this is good."

"That's good." Toph said, "I could only smell it, but from the smell alone it seemed worth buying."

Zuko chuckled at that, "All right, where do you want to go now?" He asked, nibbling on his treat.

Toph grabbed his hand again and began to pull him around some more. This time though, Zuko ran with her, instead of letting her drag him. She had a weird way of showing her affection, but he knew that she truly cared for him, so the least he could do was have a good time with her and push all the thoughts out of his head for now.

Sokka and Suki fidgeted as they wandered around the city, not really paying attention to the stands or any other attraction that the festival had to offer. Instead, they just basked in the knowledge of knowing that they were safe for the moment, and that they were with each other. They looked up at the darkening sky, watching at the stars began to appear as well. Unfortunately, night time in the city, especially during the winter season was pretty cold, and soon the stalls began to close up as the cold began to get to be a little too much.

Fortunately, Sokka had thought ahead, and he was wearing his winter coat, and he secretly got Katara's for Suki.

They wandered around until they were in a square with a large fountain in the middle, a few people were left wandering around, but otherwise, it was clear. The two sat at the edge of the fountain, looking into each other's eyes. Nothing would ruin the moment for either of them, and as they leaned in to kiss, Suki's almost closed eyes widened, and she looked pass Sokka.

"Is that your sister?"

"Not now." Sokka muttered, lowering the arm Suki had raised, but when the words got through his head, he blinked a few times, "What?"

"It is." She pointed towards Katara, who looked to be in a depressed, angry, annoyed stage sitting on a bench alone. Her legs were brought up to her chest, and she wrapped her arms around them. Her gaze was glossed over, and she was lost in thought. Suki and Sokka parted, and began to walk over to her, well, Suki was, but Sokka hesitated, before going with his future wife to see what was up with his little sister.

"Katara?" Suki said, reaching down and touching the girl on the shoulder.

She reacted instantly, her head snapping up towards them, and she quickly broke out of the position she was sitting, "Sokka? Suki?" She said in surprise, "What are you doing?"

"We were about to make out and then we saw you." Sokka answered truthfully, Katara sent a half-hearted glare at her brother, "Hey, you asked."

"What are you doing here?" Suki asked.

"I came out here to think." She admitted, not seeing any reason to lie, "It's Aang, he-"

"Aang did this?" Sokka said, reaching the wrong conclusion, "Did he try to hurt you or something? No wait, he tried to go too far and you just managed to escape, or-"

"Sokka!" Katara shouted, "Shut up!"

"So it was none of those?"

"No, it was _nothing _like that." She stressed, "I can't believe you'd even accuse him of those things. I doubt he could even do it even if he wanted to."

"So what's the problem?" Suki said, sitting next to the other girl.

"He hasn't told anyone but me, but I think it's time to get someone else's opinion on this. He constantly berates himself, he doesn't think he deserves to be the Avatar, and even though we've been doing so well, he constantly remembers his past failures, and never allows himself to enjoy anything that has to do with his success. Instead, he wants to brood about it all day. I have been trying to get him to break out of this for years now, he always nods his head like he understands, but it just comes in one ear and out the other." She let out an annoyed growl, "I can't stand it when he does that to himself."

"And he was doing it today?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, and this time I snapped." She admitted, "We just did our first big success in this life, and all he can think about is how he failed before! It doesn't matter now, but he doesn't understand that! What can I do to make him understand that?"

She looked up to her brother, her eyes beginning to water, "Wow, this means a lot to you doesn't it." Sokka wondered aloud.

"It does. He is almost never happy anymore. Whenever he is happy, something comes along to remind him of how he somehow failed, and then he gets depressed again. I can't stand it; he has to put it all behind him."

Sokka looked down, "He did really screw up though," He admitted, "The Avatar state is gone, and our biggest advantage doesn't exist anymore."

Katara forced herself not to slap her brother, "But it doesn't matter anymore! I can't believe you'd say something like that!"

"Hey, I'm not blaming the guy, he has done a lot of things I could never do. I think he is just really stressed, because he wants to defeat the Fire Lord this time, and not mess up again. It's probably never leaving his mind, looming over him no matter what he does. At least, I know it would be for me." He sighed, "It's a big responsibility, and I completely understand where he's coming from."

"Then why does he constantly berate himself for his past failures?" Katara yelled, "I can understand he's stressed about fighting the Fire Lord, I know I'm stressed when I think of those things, but right now we don't have to worry about it! He worries about his past, not the future." She explained, "How can I knock it out of him?"

Sokka sighed, "Katara, sometimes things like that just stay with a person their whole life. I think it's something he'll have to get over by himself."

"Come on Sokka, isn't there something you can do to help her out?" Suki asked.

Sokka thought for a bit and sighed, "You said that you snapped at him right?"

"I didn't mean to."

"I know, you wouldn't mean to hurt a fly," Sokka laughed, "but right now he probably feels a hundred times worse. He likes to think things are worse than they are too, so he probably feels that you're never going to be by him anymore, or something stupid like that."

"That's ridiculous." Katara muttered.

"It's Aang." Sokka countered, "His imagination always makes things a hundred times worse for him than they actually are. Look, I'm not one to come to for advice, I'm not sure why you're asking me and not someone else, but if I were you, I would go back to him and assure him that you're willing to help him through his guilt. He might not accept your help, but at least he'll know you care."

Katara nodded, and stood up, "You're right."

"It's also killing you to be apart from him." Sokka noted, "You look like hell."

She wiped her tear stained face, "Shut up." She said, but he could see a smile on her face. She then leaned in and hugged her brother, "Thank you Sokka." She whispered into his ear, before she ran off to the inn, "Oh, and I will forgive you just this once for letting Suki use my coat without asking!" She shouted back to them before running out of their vision.

Sokka sat down where Katara previously was, "Just because I come up with the plans she expects me to know how to handle her relationship problems." Sokka sighed, "I will never understand her."

"I think you did a great job." Suki said, leaning towards him.

"I love you." Sokka said, leaning forward two, connecting his lips with hers.

It didn't take long for Katara to make it back from where she came, by then it was dark, the moon was just a sliver in the sky now, but it was helpful enough as it was. She was able to pass by a few people still out on that chilly night, and entered the inn. The ground floor was packed, and rightfully so, since the ground floor was a bar, with their rooms were upstairs. Katara pushed pass the people, and headed upstairs.

She opened the door to their room, and disappointment filled her when she saw that it was empty. She crossed her arms, as she walked in, and sat on a bed. _Where could he have gone?_ She tried to think, but nothing came to mind.

"The staff here is excellent!" Someone said in the hall, but from the voice Katara knew it was Toph, "They cleaned our clothes, and wow, they feel so soft! I wonder what they used."

The bored voice of Zuko came through next, "We're companions of the Avatar. I would be surprised if they didn't do a good job."

The door opened, and Toph came in holding her green clothes, while Zuko came in carrying everyone else's clothes. Immediately Katara's attention was brought to the clothing that they were currently wearing, "Where did you buy those?"

"I got them because she forced me to." Zuko sighed, "Now I have no money. We're lucky the owner of this place is letting us use this room for free. Thank the spirits for Avatar insurance."

"Hey, stop complaining." Toph said, smacking his arm, almost making him drop the pile of clothes in his arm, "I paid for everything else."

"Did you use our money?" Katara asked, feeling a little alarmed, "We don't have that much to be sp-"

"No, I did not use your money Sugar Queen," Toph said, "I'm part of the Bei Fong family. People see this," She showed them the official sign of the Bei Fong family, "And they give me anything I want."

"That's underhanded of you." Katara said, but she was smiling anyway, "So those are our clothes?"

"Yes." Zuko said, gently putting them on the bed, "They're clean."

"That's good." Katara sighed, "I can't wait to get back into them so I can begin to train again. I've really slacked off in that regard..."

"Sure did." Toph said sitting on the opposite bed of her, "I figured you'd be with Aang. Where is he anyway?"

"I don't know." Katara admitted, "I'm looking for him."

"Did you guys have a fight again?" Toph asked, not waiting for an answer she continued on, "Jeez, you guys seem to never have a normal relationship."

"We didn't fight." Katara growled, "I just needed to be away from him for a little bit to reorganize my thoughts."

"After a fight."

"No!" Katara shouted.

"I can feel if you're lying Katara." Toph chided, "I know that you fought with him again."

"We had a minor disagreement." She said crossing her arms, hoping Toph would drop it.

"Whatever." Toph sighed, "You want to make up with him again, right? He's on the roof from what I can tell."

Katara looked up, "How did he get up there?"

"Beats me." Toph said, "It's pretty cold out now though, so if I were you I would-"

Katara ran out of the room before Toph could finish.

"Now that's just rude." Toph said crossing her arms.

Zuko sat on the other bed and stretched. He closed his eyes, and muttered, "I'm going to sleep now. Please, don't wake me up." Toph let out a sigh.

He leaned down, and closed his eyes, leaving Toph sitting on her bed. She could hear Zuko breathing in and out, and could vaguely feel his heart beating through the soft fabrics of the bed he was on. Knowing that it was late, she shrugged too, and began to lie down on the bed she was on. She intended to just relax for a little bit, but the actions from the last few days took its toll on her young body, and soon she was sound asleep as well.

Katara was getting mad, due to her inability to find out how to get up there. The thought occurred to her that Aang might have just Airbendered up there, and she was beginning to regret not asking Toph to Earthbend her up there. She groaned, and looked out a window at the end of the hall, and seeing a ledge she could use to climb up there. Seeing no other options, she remembered back to the lessons Ty Lee had taught her, and reached forth to begin climbing up.

The building was only two stories high, but exiting the second floor window still made the height seem significantly higher. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she focused on climbing up the roof. She grunted as she pulled herself up over the window, and stood on the small ledge that the top of the window had protruding from it.

The rest of the way was fairly easy, and soon she rolled onto the top of the roof and let out a breath.

"Katara?" Aang asked, turned to her in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

She stood and dusted off the robe she was wearing. It was already getting dirty, and she just cleaned earlier! Letting the troublesome thoughts go aside, she looked back to Aang, "I came to apologize."

"What for?" Aang asked with genuine confusion in his eyes.

"I snapped at you earlier when you were talking to me, and forced you to go away."

"You didn't force me to do anything." Aang said, "I went out because you didn't seem to want to talk to me then."

"What?"

"Yeah, I thought you just wanted space. I didn't want you to stop talking to me so soon after we began to talk again."

"I thought you left because you were angry with me."

"You asked me to leave, so I left." Aang said, now he was really confused, "Was I not supposed to leave?"

"I felt bad! I thought you were hurt or hated me or something." She confessed, beginning to feel foolish for her earlier reaction.

Aang let out a low chuckle, which turned to a full blown laugh shortly after, "You've been reading too many romance stories." He said, as the laughter subsided, "Katara, I would never hate you. We have our occasional disagreements, and in fact, I should be the one apologizing to you."

"Why?" She was bewildered, not sure where this conversation was heading anymore.

"I do let my past catch up to me too much." He openly admitted for the first time, "It's something I think I'm going to have to deal with for a long time."

Katara remembered what Sokka said, "It's something you need to deal with yourself."

Aang blinked, "You understand?"

"No, but I told Sokka about it." Aang winced at that, "Don't worry, he won't tell anyone else. I needed his advice. I'm sorry."

Aang sighed, "I'm sorry for giving you the impression that I would hate you. I'll admit that I was a little hurt by you telling me to go, but I thought by listening to you it would show you I still cared or something." He rubbed the back of his head, "I'm not so good at this whole romance thing."

"Nah," Katara said waving that off, "You're just right for it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Aang said smiling at her, but it fell, "To be honest, I thought it would be you who left me."

"I wouldn't do that." She said, "I may not understand why you need to face this by yourself, but I will always be by your side to help you through anything."

Aang nodded at that oddly silent, "I wouldn't mind." he whispered, "I wouldn't mind if you did help me through it. I just want you to understand that it's not going away until I get over it. I understand that what we did was good; it was a success, our first real one here. I know that, I just have to learn how to live the rest of my life with the knowledge I failed once."

The two sat side by side, watching the night sky together on top of the roof, before Katara sighed, "It's pretty cold out here."

Aang reached his hand out and created a small flame, "Better?"

Katara smiled and leaned into his side, "Yeah, much better."

"I love you Katara." He said, turning to face her.

"I love you too," She said, leaning in and kissing Aang.

The two stayed out for quite a time, just enjoying each other's company just like at the Southern Air Temple once again.

The next morning arrived, and the town was recovering from a night of parties. People were sluggish from the night, others were hung-over, and the guards walked to the gates of the Palace where their King lived. Behind them followed the Avatar, Katara to his right, and Sokka was on Aang's other side. Toph and Zuko followed closely behind them, and further behind followed Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors.

The guards were far enough ahead to open the gates and allow Aang and his friends to walk on without stopping at all. Soon they were followed by another group of men, the King's royal guards; They looked down at the children in visible signs of disbelief, awe, and respect. They didn't say anything, the air of professionalism was evident, and soon they were walking in the throne room.

At the end the King looked up, and his eyes widened in recognition before they set back into their previous state, a mischievous smile crossing his face. The children were brought forth, and the guards took stance around the room. It was unnecessary for these children, but at the same time it was required of their job. Only their King could call them off.

"Oh," The King said, "Who is this child?"

"Oh, I'm hurt," Aang said, deciding to take this once in a life time chance to prank his old friend, "I thought for sure you'd recognize me."

"I have been alive for quite a while," The King said, "I don't remember things as well as I usually do. However, I do recognize you Avatar." He smiled, amusing the boy.

"Oh? You still don't recognize me?" The King's smile dropped, and his eyes widened, "Yeah, I can recognize you if given two life times to do so Bumi, it's nice to be back."

Bumi's shock was mild, as if he found out his milk was expired a few days early, "Oh, well, it's nice to see you again Aang. Especially since this is the only time I will ever meet someone who has seen me a hundred and twelve years old twice." He didn't hide his skull splitting smile as Aang's mouth dropped open, along with the other five children.

To the rest of the people in the room, the guards just chalked it up to some nonsense the King was saying, and the Kyoshi Warriors were also beginning to get that impression as well.

"There is much we need to discuss Aang, how about only among us one hundred and twelve old folk, hm?" Bumi said, standing up, "I could use a little walk anyway. Guards, see to it that our special guests are treated to anything they want while we are gone. Come Aang!" Aang was still in a state of shock as he began to walk by King Bumi out of the room.

Once they left the room, Aang turned to Bumi, "How did you know?"

"An old friend told me, you should know, since you've heard of the White Lotus." Bumi replied, his laughter filling the air, "Ah, poor you, tried to surprise me by knowing me already, before telling me what was going on!" He laughed hysterically, and then stopped; he turned to Aang very seriously, "That isn't very nice."

Aang sputtered, "Ah, eh, well, you…" He was at a loss of words.

"Don't worry Aang," Bumi said patting the boy on the shoulder, "Why don't you start with what happened to my city?"

"You know?"

"I told you, I know everything."

"Iroh told you." Aang sighed, "I wish he didn't, I really wanted to surprise you."

"I don't think my mind or body could take the shock of that," Bumi laughed.

They were walking along the perimeter of the palace now, the heat from the sun creating a nice contrast to the coolness of the air. It was during this walk, that Aang told Bumi everything that he knew happened in the last timeline up until his defeat at Ozai's hands, mentioning what the lion turtle told him and all. Bumi's expression during the entire thing never changed, he just gave Aang a critical look, his hand on his chin, as if he were thinking very hard about what he was told.

When the tale ended he nodded, "You've had quite an adventure then." He decided to say, making Aang's jaw fall once more.

"That's all you have to say?"

"Um, tough luck?" Bumi said shrugging.

Aang slapped his forehead, "What do you think I should do now?"

"Well, I will be sure not to allow my city to fall this time." Bumi said, "It seems that my men and I are required elsewhere during the eclipse." He smiled seeing Aang's shocked face, "I think this time we should try to end it then, instead of on the day the comet comes, don't you agree?"

"Yeah!" Aang said, happy about Bumi's plan, "We plan on saving everyone else so they could help if we have the invasion on that day too. I think the next place we're going is to convince a future friend of ours to use Earthbending. Hopefully this time by saving his dad instead of having him be captured."

"Sounds like fun, I wish I could go with you." Bumi sighed, "Politics are not very fun Aang. When you become a fully realized Avatar and defeat Ozai, I hope you're ready to deal with all the conflict that will surely arise."

"I can't become a fully realized Avatar." He whispered to Bumi.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Because I died when I was in the Avatar state, effectively ending the line of Avatars. I shouldn't be alive right now; Katara healed me with her spirit water."

"So you're the last Airbender and Avatar?" Bumi asked looking towards Aang for confirmation, "Are you certain that you can't restart the chain?"

"I'm positive. My connection to the spirit world is weakened too; I can only go through when I'm within an area of high spiritual presence." He slapped his head, "I'm such a failure."

"You are." Bumi nodded.

"Thanks." Aang said flatly.

"You're welcome!" Turning serious again though, he looked out across the city, "Aang, your connection to the spirits, weak as it is, proves to me that everything you think is wrong, may not be so. Have you ever thought the powers of the Avatar are just locked within you?"

"Then how do I unlock it?" Aang asked, intrigued by the direction of the conversation.

"Beats me, you're the Avatar, you're the one who's going to have to figure it out."

Aang sighed, "I figured as much."

"Now, we've been out here long enough. Let's go see how your friends are doing. Oh, right." He laughed, "That Fire Nation kid, I have been watching him very closely." He turned to Aang, "He came with you from the future, right?"

"Zuko?" Aang asked, "Yeah, he's a trustworthy friend."

"I have been wondering if I should have detained him last night," Bumi admitted, "But if you say he's trustworthy, I suppose I will trust your word."

"It was great to see you again Bumi." Aang said, hugging the older guy.

Bumi hugged his friend back, "It's always nice to see an old friend after a century. It fills an old man's heart with joy to see you again."

Aang smiled as he and Bumi had finally wandered back into the throne room.

Everyone was sitting around bored out of their mind. Aang and Bumi had been gone for over two hours, so they had plenty of time to do nothing. Sokka was the only one having anywhere near a decent time, and that was because he was sitting on the throne ordering the guards to get him something to eat. The guards shrugged, because Bumi had said to give them royal treatment, so they left and did as they were requested.

"I see you've all had a good time," Bumi said.

"Yeah, a great time." Toph said sarcastically.

"That's nice to hear."

Toph frowned, but then decided to shrug it off, knowing King Bumi's antics.

"King Bumi knows everything," Aang said, stepping forward, "Now what do we need to do?"

Sokka grinned at that, "Time to begin to recruit people for the eclipse."

"When is it going to be?" A Kyoshi Warrior asked.

"In summer," He answered, when it looked like she wanted to know more he said, "I read it in a book."

The girl sighed, knowing it would be useless to try and pry more information out of him. Instead, she looked to Suki, "Are we going to assist them then?"

"Yeah," Suki said, "He'll have our support."

"Great!" Sokka cheered, "So now we have the Kyoshi Warriors helping us, we need to go around and save people to help us out."

"We also have Omashu's support." Aang said, "Bumi said he'd come with us during the eclipse."

"We have an army?" Sokka asked, "So we won't have to deal with Ba Sing Se!"

"Well, I think we should also see if we can get Ba Sing Se to help us." Aang said, "There's a lot of good we could do there."

Sokka didn't hide his disappointment, "Right."

"So, where to?" Aang asked.

**Chapter seven - End**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight**

They had been in Omashu for longer than they had liked, but Bumi insisted they stay for a few more days. Not one to disappoint an old friend, Aang complied. During those few days they stayed in the city, the six had decided what to do, and that is why now they were flying off in the sky on Appa, towards the Prison where Haru's father was held captive. They took Zuko on the outskirts of the town where he returned to his vessel, and the other five began to fly off towards it almost immediately.

Suki was with them now as well, before she parted with her Warriors, she told them to begin to assist any refugees within the Earth Kingdom, and to make their way towards Ba Sing Se, and that they would meet up in a few months. With that the group parted, not before wishing each other luck though.

Suki also had gotten a new set of bladed fans while in the city, and she also bought a katana as well, effectively diminishing their group's supply of money. However, she took full responsibility, and told them she would earn them some more money somehow, no matter how much they waved it off, saying it was no big deal.

Now, their goal had shifted from getting to Omashu to telling King Bumi everything, to recruiting people to the war effort. With the Kyoshi Warriors, the White Lotus, and the Army of Omashu beside them, they were all ready in a very good position. However, if they wanted to succeed without fail, they knew that they were going to need more help.

They had discussed this heavily the previous night before flying out, and they intended to recruit as many people as possible. Besides Haru and the other Earthbenders from this prison, they intended to get Sokka and Katara's father and his men, the Freedom Fighters, the Mechanist, the Northern Water Tribe warriors, and the Army of Ba Sing Se to assist as well. With that huge of a force striking on one day, they were certain that they could not fail.

The night ended with them deciding to get to Haru first, because the prison was the closest to Omashu. Zuko agreed to follow them there on his ship, and they intended to go slow so he could keep up. Then while they were there, they could give Zuko the instructions on where to go next, because they hadn't decided upon that yet. When that was clear, they would part, and the process would continue onward.

Their path was set, and there was no way they could fail now.

At least, they hoped not.

"We'll be there in about a week at this rate." Sokka said, "Judging by the speed of Appa and the distance."

"So we have plenty of time to begin training." Suki said, lifting up her new weapons, "When are we landing tonight?" She sounded a little bit too eager to use them.

"Only a few more hours of flying for today, then we can get off and set up camp." Sokka answered, "Ready for me to beat you then?"

"As if," Suki laughed, "I beat you easily the first time we fought in our other life, so it will be the same this time too."

"I don't think it works that way." Sokka said, "I'm a master swordsman, if you don't remember. I'm positive I can defeat you without even thinking."

"When do you ever think?" Suki teased.

He rolled his eyes, "That was too obvious. You gotta say something like that only when it'll be cool. You know what I mean?"

"Not really." She said shrugging.

"You don't even care." Sokka accused, and Suki didn't disagree, "I wonder why I married someone with such a horrible sense of humor."

"Because you love me for it," Suki said, not missing a beat.

"Oh, yeah," Sokka said smiling at her. The two got closer as they leaned in towards each other to kiss.

Toph was banging her head against the side of the saddle, but that did little to avert the images going through her head as the two talked, and she cried out, "Not while I'm around!"

Sokka and Suki either didn't hear her, or didn't care, because they went at each other excessively. Toph groaned, hearing their occasional moan, and vaguely feeling the movements from saddle. She opted to just hit her head against the side of the saddle repeatedly, and to punish both of them when they got out of the sky.

Aang glanced back at the scene, "They're annoying Toph I think." He told Katara, and he couldn't help but blush as he watched the two go at it, "Hey, Sokka, Suki, not in the air, alright?"

The two parted, hair a little messed up, Sokka looked dejected, "But it's so fun to annoy Toph and make out with Suki. It's two birds with one stone!"

"Yeah, well, try not to make it so…" Aang looked for the right words, "Sensual and loud, ok?"

Sokka laughed at that, "All right, but only if you and Katara could keep it quiet at night when you're of age. I swear, you guys kept me and Suki up all the time back when we were in our twenty year old bodies. You just kept going and-"

"SHUT UP!" Toph screamed, "I have NO desire to hear about your sex lives! So please, KEEP IT OUT, or I will jump off this flying bison right now!"

"Oh no, don't do that." Sokka said in a bored tone, getting a smack from Suki, "Oh come on. Aang would catch her if she did and you know it."

"All right guys, enough teasing Toph already," Katara said. She was up at the top of the saddle sitting next to Aang, and she had a blush on her face from Sokka's previous comment, "I swear Sokka, sometimes your mind can go to the worst places…"

"Oh, come on, you know it's true!" Sokka laughed.

"Sokka!" Katara growled warningly.

"You should stop Sokka." Suki said, "I don't know why you keep goading them like that."

Sokka finally ceded, "All right, I can see I'm clearly outnumbered here, I'll stop, I promise." The last part he said to Toph.

Toph couldn't sense that he was lying, though she could barely sense anything at all. However, her poor senses she trusted enough. "Good." She simply said.

"I'm going to go below the clouds so Zuko can see where we are now." Aang called back to everyone, so they could be prepared for the suddenly movement as Appa descended slightly forward until he was below the clouds.

"There he is." Katara said, pointing him out.

"Think he can see me waving?" Sokka asked, doing it anyway, "I doubt it."

"Then why are you doing that?" Toph asked.

"For fun I guess." Sokka said shrugging, "We've been up in the air for a while anyway."

Down on the boat Zuko stopped looking out of his telescope and sighed when he saw Sokka waving, "Do you think we could hit them from here?" He asked, turning to his uncle.

"No, they're way too far in the sky."

"I thought so." Zuko mumbled.

Back in the air, Sokka stopped waving and leaned back into his seat next to Suki.

The group continued flying for another few hours, Aang and Katara both on the lookout for anywhere they could sleep at for the night. They flew along the coast, so Zuko could keep track of them, so their camp site would have to be a little further inland so Zuko's crew wouldn't get any ideas to go capture him themselves. They eventually took a sharp turn inland, telling Zuko that they would be camping for the night.

On the ship Zuko turned to his crew, "We'll anchor here for the night and wait for him to come back." That decided the crew did as they were told.

Back to Aang, he landed Appa in the middle of a small wooded area, where a river was flowing nearby. They could get some drinking water from there, and the trees would provide them with the cover they wanted, but not necessarily needed. The sun had yet to go out in the horizon, though it would soon be setting in another hour or so. This gave them more than enough time to set up their camp for the night.

"Hurry up and unpack!" Sokka called out, "Then we can train for the night!"

His enthusiastic statement was met with groans of annoyance from everyone but Suki, but no one voiced any objections to it. They went about unpacking what they needed off Appa, everyone helping so it would go faster. Finally when that was done, Sokka and Suki both pulled out their weapons in the middle of the camp site.

"Whoa, guys!" Aang called, getting between them, "Go a little further away, please."

"Sorry," Suki said, "I'm just eager to try out my new weapons."

"And I'm just glad to finally have a sparring partner who can't bend." Sokka said, "We can finally have a real fight."

"A real fight?" Toph laughed, "Go have fun with your sharp toys, we'll go have a real fight over near the river if you need us."

Sokka was about to retort, but Suki covered his mouth, "Have fun!" She said, almost shooing them away.

When they were gone, she let go with a sigh, "She was just trying to get a rise out of you." She explained, "I only did that so they would leave sooner."

"Ah," Sokka mumbled, "You're pretty smart."

"It rubbed off on me." She said smiling.

Sokka laughed at that, "You don't give yourself enough credit."

"Oh well," She said shrugging, "All your brains isn't going to make you a better fighter though. Too bad my skills didn't rub off onto you."

Sokka narrowed his eyes at her, but still had a smile, "Was that a challenge?"

"Yes, dear, it was."

The two looked around, realizing they had been walking the entire time. Knowing they were far enough from the camp, the two jumped at each other with their weapons drawn, training for the night with each other.

Out at sea, Zuko's ship was stalled at sea due to the Anchor, the whole crew was in the wreck room while Zuko was in his room, sitting on his bed, allowing himself to relax for a little while. He would have fallen asleep, but a knock on his door brought his mind back. Zuko sighed as he sat back up, and allowed whoever knocked to come in.

"Zuko," Iroh said coming in, "I noticed you weren't eating with the rest of the crew."

"I wasn't hungry."

Iroh came in with a tray of food, "I thought you'd say as much." He acknowledged, "That is why I brought some food from the kitchens for you to have."

Zuko didn't argue, knowing it was pointless to do so. Instead he took some of the fruit on the tray that his uncle sat down on his bed, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Iroh said with a small smile on his face as he watched his nephew.

From the corner of his eye, Zuko watched his uncle, "Is there something you want?" He asked when his uncle didn't say anything.

Iroh sighed, "There is something I do wish to ask of you, but I'm not sure if I should tell you what's on my mind or not."

"There's nothing on your mind that I can't handle." Zuko told his uncle truthfully, "I told you everything on my mind because I trusted you."

"I don't intend for you to believe I mistrust you Zuko." Iroh said seriously.

"I didn't mean to imply that."

"Even so," Iroh sighed, "It is something I don't think should be brought up. Please, forget I even said anything." He stood up to leave, but Zuko grabbed his wrist.

"You can trust me uncle."

"It's not an issue of trust so much as an accusation."

"An accusation?" Zuko said in surprise, "What would you accuse me of."

"Forgive me Zuko for asking this," Iroh said turning back to his nephew, "It has been on my mind ever since you revealed everything to me."

Now Zuko was beginning to get concerned, "What has?"

Iroh sighed, "I have wondered, what happened to the child you have replaced."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, not making the connection.

"The Zuko before you, the one whose goal in life was to capture the Avatar, to restore his honor. The child who requested me to train him constantly, who needed guidance. I need to know, what did you do to him?"

Zuko felt his insides go completely cold, _an accusation, he wonders if I killed my past self... _He started to come to a realization immediately, "Oh, spirits." He whispered. He was so focused on his goal, his mind in so many other places that he did not even consider what would happen to the previous owner of the body. His uncle said there was one, he just assumed that the world would fit to make his new mind work, but he just realized, that was not the case.

Iroh placed his arm on Zuko, "I did not mean to place this burden on you too, I thought you'd know what happened."

"I never considered what happened, or event thought of it." His breathing began to pick up at the implications, "Did I kill him?" He wondered aloud, "Uncle, I'm so sorry."

His thoughts were a jumbled mess, the food was completely forgotten.

"Please, Zuko." His uncle tried to calm him, "You need to calm down. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, you had to." Zuko muttered, "I have to realize the sacrifices that have already been made so we could save the world. I killed an innocent child, and stole his body..." Zuko felt sick.

"Are you sure of that?" Iroh asked.

"What else could there be?" He snapped, but immediately regretted it, "I'm sorry uncle..."

"I'm just saying Zuko. I may have said that I had an accusation, but that was perhaps too harsh. I just know something happened to the other Zuko, and I figured you knew the answers. Please, don't hurt yourself too much over this. You have far more important things to do."

Iroh picked up the tray of food, knowing Zuko wouldn't be eating now. Regretfully Iroh left, but he couldn't hide the lost look in his eyes, that Zuko clearly saw.

_I took his nephew away from him, and I thought I could replace him. _Zuko shook his head sadly as the door closed to his room. _I'm a horrible person; I killed a child for his body... _He sat up against the wall, completely lost in thought.

And like that he stayed, until eventually he slumped forth into a very uncomfortable sleep.

Zuko opened his eyes, but all around him was darkness. He stood up from his position on the ground and looked around some more. "Hello?" He called out, his voice echoing in the darkness. He wasn't in his room, he wasn't on his boat, and he wasn't anywhere on his world. He was in a large black void, devoid of any light. Yet, he could still see his body perfectly.

"Is this a dream?" He wondered aloud, as he began to walk forward, "Hello!" He tried again, "Is anyone there?"

He walked forward, but noticed something off immediately. He looked down, and realized that he was in his adult body, "What is this?" He said in surprise, "I must be dreaming." He said, but didn't sound convinced. His voice was deeper, but the fact that he was older didn't hit his groggy mind until he had tried to move, "I must have been out of it for a while..." Shaking that off for now, he called out again, "Is anyone there?"

"Hello?" A distant voice called out.

"Who's there?" Zuko called, trying to find his way to the person.

"Who are you?" The voice shot back.

Zuko rolled his eyes, "I'm Zuko! Now tell me who you are!"

It was quite for a small bit, but finally answered back, "I'm Zuko."

Zuko froze in mid step, _No, it can't be. _He recalled his conversation with his uncle; _did uncle know that he wasn't dead? Is this a dream? What is going on? _All valid questions, and none of them would be answered if he just stood there.

"Zuko," He called out, "Where are you?"

"Over here!" The voice called out, or if it was who Zuko suspected, his younger self.

Zuko ran towards the sound of the voice, and soon saw a small figure out in the distance. Picking up his speed, he rushed to the child, and stopped a few steps away from the child. The boy was sitting on the ground, looking up in awe at the person standing over him. There was a scar mark on the left side of his face, and he still had the same hair style that Zuko recently changed.

"Father...?" His younger self asked.

Zuko tried his best not to yell out at his younger self, so he held it in, "No." One thing he hated was to be reminded of was how similar he had grown to look like his father.

His younger self noted the scar, "Wait, you said you were Zuko... No." He shook his head, "You're me."

"I'm having trouble coming to that realization too." The older of the two said, "I thought you were dead."

"Dead?" Young Zuko said, "I came here weeks ago! One moment I was waking up, prepared to go hunt the Avatar in the South Pole, and the next I came to this place! I have tried to find a way out since I got here! There is no food, water, or anything, yet I don't die, or lose weight, or anything! What is going on?"

Older Zuko's mind crashed to a realization, "This is the darkest recesses of our mind."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm using your body." Older Zuko said, "And I have been for weeks now. I never once thought of you, and for that I apologize."

"Well then, give it back!" His younger self shouted, "I thought I would be stuck here forever!"

Old Zuko watched his younger self's desperation, and he hid his face as he tried to compose himself, "I can't." He said, "There are too many important things that I need to do right now, and you'd ruin everything."

"So you're going to leave me here?" Young Zuko's voice cracked, "I demand you to give my body back!"

"You would chase the Avatar." Old Zuko said, "My best friend. One of few people in the world I could truthfully call that."

"The Avatar is your friend?" the younger Zuko laughed, "I would never betray the Fire Nation. You're an imposter trying to pose as me."

"I'm afraid not. I remembered chasing the Avatar. I would travel all over the world once I found him, we would fight, and he would always come out on top. He was a master Airbender, and I was just a mediocre Firebender at best. I was no match for him, yet he always deluded me into thinking I stood a chance against him." He sighed, "I always thought that he did it out of pity, but he later told me that he had fun fighting with me, and in a way, I did too. Whenever we were close to him, I would always feel like I would succeed and get my father's approval."

His younger self glared at him, "You found the Avatar? You're chasing him in my body?"

"No." Old Zuko denied, "I did this in my own body, and you would have done it in your own body if I hadn't intervened. See Zuko, it doesn't turn out good. I failed to capture him at the North Pole, and do you know what our father did? He sent Azula out to capture uncle and me as prisoners. He figured we failed, and said that uncle betrayed the Fire Nation."

"I would never fail." His younger self mumbled.

"I all ready told you, he was stronger than you are. It was pointless, and he was right, I had failed. Don't you see Zuko, father never loved us. He only thinks of us as a tool, and once we fail on him, he sets us aside."

"No."

"Yes." Zuko sighed, "I'm sorry that I'm forcing all of this on you at once. It must be tough for you."

That was quite an understatement, "I refuse to believe that you're me. How did you chase the Avatar once before? What is going on?"

"I befriended Aang - the Avatar, and we traveled around the world together with a few other close friends. Unfortunately, the Fire Nation won the war in the end, and we were the only form of resistance. We found a way to 'fix our mistakes' written in a scroll, so we took it. We had no clue it would take us to the past like this."

"So it brought you to the past to replace me?"

"Not replace." Old Zuko sighed, "I'm using your body, but I think I could give you control if I wanted to. I never came in here before to see you because before this point I never thought of it. It was uncle who brought it up to me..."

"Give me control then... Living in this darkness, days on end, not being able to sleep, eat, or anything is driving me crazy." His younger self pleaded.

His older self looked at his younger body in a combination of pity and guilt.

"I - I can't." Zuko said, "You would eventually do the right thing, but it'd be too late..."

"I would never betray the Fire Nation." younger Zuko repeated, "You're lying to me, about everything."

"No, if there was a way to show you everything..." Zuko mumbled, but then a thought hit him, "Maybe I can... This is my mind after all..." He tried to think of everything from the past, and when he could, he knelt down at his younger body, and grabbed his shoulder. Suddenly, young Zuko saw a multitude of memories going through his head, memories of Iroh, his group of friends, the good times, bad times, his first love Mai, then Toph, and a lot of his father as well.

He watched as he helped his sister strike down the Avatar, he watched as he gained his father's approval over a lie, and how Zuko felt during the times he was back home. He saw when his father tried to kill him; he watched as Aang failed to save the world, he watched as he fought his sister in an Agni Kai for the title of the Fire Lord. Through all the memories, he could feel everything that old Zuko had felt during these times.

When it was all over, young Zuko was openly crying.

"I really messed up."

"No, I did." Old Zuko sighed, "I was the one who nearly destroyed the world. If it weren't for me, maybe things would have changed..."

"Everything I have ever known is a lie... Please, tell me, whatever happened to our mother?"

"I don't know." Old Zuko mumbled, "I tried to look for her occasionally, but I never managed to find her. I refuse to acknowledge that she is dead..."

"I- I'm glad that you're trying to change things." His younger self said, sniffling a little bit, "I could never do good in this world anyway..."

"You're too hard on yourself." Old Zuko said, patting himself on the back.

"Just go now." His younger self said, "Let me wallow here."

_There has to be a way both of us can get out of here... _He thought long and hard, the silence of the endless dark void was almost frightening. He finally sighed, "I refuse to leave you here alone. You will not sacrifice yourself so I can use your body. It's either you're getting out of here, or we both are."

With that declaration, the room suddenly turned a bright white, and both let out a startled cry.

"What is going on?" young Zuko cried out.

Old Zuko watched as a simple white woodened door appeared in the middle of the room, and somehow he knew what it was. "We both can get out of here, but if both of us pass through the door, nothing will be the same."

"What do you mean?"

"Our minds will merge into one."

Young Zuko's eyes widened in surprise, "Really? Is that really the wisest idea?"

"It's the only way we're both getting out of here." Old Zuko announced, "However, I will give you the choice." He turned to his younger self, "I stole your body, and for that, I apologize a thousand times over. Since this is your body, you can leave through that door by yourself, or we both can go. If we both go, you will have my memories and bodily reflexes, and I will have yours. We'll become one. Is that what you want?"

Young Zuko looked towards the door, and then towards his older body. After a moment's hesitation, he finally decided on what to do.

"Come on." He said, looking up at his older self, "I'm not going to mess up again."

Old Zuko smiled, and patted his younger self on the head, "I knew you'd make the right choice. Oh, when you, or rather we, get back into our body, you have a new haircut, and there are also a few other things you should know about-"

"I'll have your memories, right?" His younger self said, "I'll find out when we merge."

And with that, they walked through the door.

Waking up the next morning was probably the best he had ever felt, except that his neck was incredibly sore from leaning forward the entire time. Sitting upward, he groaned as he stood up off his bed and attempted to crack his neck to get the feeling to go away. He then did a few more stretches to get blood flowing through his entire body.

Then memories of the dream hit, if it could even be called such a thing. Zuko thought about how both his future and past self merged into one, and he had trouble trying to determine if he was in fact his future self with his past memories, or if he was his past self with the memories from the future.

"It worked." He said aloud, "I really need to thank uncle."

He thought of his friends, and a wide smile crossed his face, Aang, Katara, Suki, Sokka, and Toph. He wouldn't fail them no matter what. They were precious to him, even after the merge, at least in that regard, both Zuko's had wanted to be helpful. Thinking of the merge was odd, he felt like he had before he went to sleep, except that he seemed to have a different perspective on a lot of things. Shaking the thought off for now, he looked forward, determined.

"I can't afford to waste any time."

With that said, he left his room to begin a brand new day.

Getting inside the prison was easy, Team Avatar simply flew their bison above the metal platform and jumped down, prepared to fight for these men and women, who looked shocked as the children descended down and landed in front of them. However, the reaction of the Fire Nation was much more distressing for the group; they instantly started to shoot them with fire, and screaming for the alarms to go off.

As Appa flew off to circle the prison, the children got together, Aang and Katara protecting them all from the occasional fireball that would get close to them.

"Step one done." Aang said, "What now?"

"Yeah! Now what?" Toph said, "Can I metal bend now?"

"No!" Sokka shouted, "Gimme a second to think!"

"Let's go head first." Katara mumbled darkly, imitating Sokka's voice, "Well now look where we're at!"

"I said gimme a second!"

Sokka tried to think as the masses of Fire Nation soldiers began to come down to fight them in close range. "Toph, coal, can you sense it?"

"What?"

"Coal! There's coal in this place! We need to bring it up so these other guys here can bend and help us!"

"Nice idea Sokka," Toph said sarcastically, "Did you even have a plan other than to jump into this blind and hope for the best?"

"No!" Sokka admitted, "I was on a natural high after our last victory!"

The Fire Nation came closer, spears drawn at the children. "Spare the bald boy!" Their leader called, "He's the Avatar! He's worth a fortune!"

Suki saw Sokka beginning to stress out, "Toph, you and I will go find the coal and bring it up here, somehow. Sokka, you Katara and Aang stay out here and hold them off. Don't bother hiding your abilities when fighting them," She said looking up at the group, "You don't want to risk doing that, there's too many."

With that said Suki grabbed Toph's hand and ran for the sides, while Sokka let out a relieved sigh, "You heard her! We hold them off!"

"No holding back?" Aang asked to make sure.

"Don't Firebend." Sokka said, "The rest are ok."

With that said the three of them charged at the men sent to fight them.

Suki and Toph ran towards the group of people, one man in particular stood out from them, and he walked over to Suki and Toph, who were both arguing with one another. He had a long white beard, and his hair was the same length as well. He was pretty old, but like Bumi he was a lot more powerful than he looked, both Toph and Suki could attest to that. The man coughed, catching both of the girl's attention.

"What is going on?"

"We're here to bust you guys out." Suki said, "That kid over there is the Avatar. It's his job to do things like this."

"You shouldn't have risked your life to come here." He said.

"Listen here old timer," Toph said, "We will bust you out, and you will like it. You need to organize everyone here. We'll provide you the earth to bend."

"And where would you get earth out in the middle of the ocean?"

Toph was too busy feeling the metal floor of the ship, a look of pure concentration on her face. She then hit the ground a few times, the vibrations telling her everything she needed. "Ok, I think I know where it is. I can get there, but I would need to Metalbend." Toph said, turning to Suki, "Is that all right, or can he not see it either?"

The man was shocked, "Metalbending? That's impossible."

"Go for it, we don't have a whole lot of time." She looked over at Sokka, and then sighed. He was having a blast, easily able to defeat the men who had not had a real fight since their training school, "Well, we just don't want to waste too much time." She amended.

Toph smiled and cracked her fingers, "You two might want to step back."

"What are you-" The man didn't even get to finish as he watched Toph's fingers slide right through the metal like butter, and she pulled up a large sheet of metal and tossed it aside. He was speechless as he watched the awesome display of power.

Toph did this to several layers until there was a ventilation shaft below, "Ok, this shaft goes to the coal. If I go in there, I will be back out with coal in five minutes, give or take."

"You kids should-"

"I'm Toph by the way." She said to the man.

"Eh, Tyro, but as I was saying, you should-"

"Blah blah blah!" Toph mumbled, "Is that all you old people do, talk? You're getting out of here one way or another, so get used to it."

She then jumped into the shaft and crawled through it out of sight.

"She gets like that sometimes when she's annoyed." Suki said, trying to excuse her behavior, "Can you guys fight with us? It will make this a lot easier."

Tyro looked on at the three kids fighting on their behalf, and then to Suki, and then down at Toph. He was shocked - he was just getting ready for another day of living in this brutal prison, when suddenly five kids came and disturbed the peace. Now that they did however, he couldn't turn back, "I can't speak for everyone else, but I will fight with you." He decided, there was really nothing to lose at this point.

"We'll fight too." Another group of Earthbenders came to surround Tyro and Suki.

"Good," Suki let out a sigh of relief, "We need all the help we can get."

Katara was having a great time, she was finally able to expel all of her strength and ability for the first time since she came back to the past, and the results of it did not disappoint. She was easily able to take out quite a few soldiers with just a swift movement of her arm, using the ocean water to do the work for her. These men were amateur though, they were obviously not ready for something like this to happen, they relied solely on mistreating their prisoners to make themselves look tougher.

However, when faced with a bender in her natural habitat, these men were like an afternoon snack that even Momo could handle. She wiped a few of them over the edge into the water, and turned the water around them to ice, so their heads were sticking above the water, allowing them to live.

Even though almost everyone else in the group had given up the idea of sparing the people they fight in the future, Aang still held firmly onto the belief that no one deserved to be judged solely based on what side of a war they fought on. He never killed, and she couldn't recall a single time he ever did. It was an admirable goal, but it seemed almost pointless. These men would come back later on, stronger than before, ready to fight and kill people of the Earth Kingdom, like they had before.

She had never liked killing, still remembering each time she struck down another person. She usually just weakened them, and someone else in the group would finish them off. She only killed people herself if it was entirely necessary. Zuko was the only other one who hesitated as she did. Sokka, Suki, and Toph on the other hand, knew what they were doing was serious, and their kill count was much higher than the she and Zuko. It was brutal to remember that, especially now, seeing them in their much younger bodies.

However, when they came to the past, there seem to be an unspoken agreement between everyone, they wouldn't kill unless if it was extremely necessary. The men they were fighting would be part of a soon to be ravaged Nation once the war was over, and if they knew the kindness of the Avatar, maybe it would make it just a small bit easier. It was a long shot, of course, but it was what the group, and most importantly Aang lived by each day, and that is why he and his friends continually spared people.

She looked up to see the leader was beginning to cower in place. _Good, _She thought, grinning up at him, giving him a frighteningly cute smile. That caused him to scream out loud and run into the barracks within the prison.

"Great, he ran." Sokka sighed as he cut a spear in two and used one of the broken parts of the spear to trip another soldier, and then he slammed his foot onto the fallen man's stomach, making him lose his breath, before he hit the guy hard across the head, knocking him out cold.

"Do you always have to be so violent?" Aang asked, seeing how Sokka took the soldier out.

Sokka shrugged, "He'll live."

Aang rolled his eyes and turned back to the two Firebenders he was facing. His masterful use of Airbending made it so using the other elements wasn't even on his mind. These soldiers were so surprisingly inept that he didn't even have to think about doing that.

"You ever get the feeling that things are going too well?" Aang asked, waving his staff, and sending the men flying away.

"Why do you ask?" Sokka said, looking over at him for a second before returning to his fight.

"Well, usually when something goes our way, something really bad happens."

"Aang, please!" Sokka laughed, "We're on a roll, nothing can go wrong now!"

Katara looked towards her brother, and couldn't help but feel a shiver go down her spine at that declaration, _why does it feel like he just doomed us all? _

"General Zhao! It's so good to see you!" The Warden got onto his knees in front of the man.

They were out on the docks of the prison, Zhao's large metallic ship contrasted sharply with the small boats that the prison personnel used to traverse between the land and the prison.

"Hello Warden, I trust everything is going well for you?" Zhao asked, stepping off his ship onto the metal platform. His men followed him off, as if they knew that they would be needed, "It appears that there is a bison flying in the air, rather unusual, isn't it?"

"You have to help us! The Avatar, he is trying to free the prisoners here!"

"And is he succeeding?"

"Yes!" The Warden whined, tears freely falling from his eyes.

Zhao looked on in disgust, "you're to be stripped of your rank, boy. The Fire Nation doesn't need fools like you running high security prisons like that."

"What?" The man cried out.

"Get out of my sight. I'm taking over operations here for the day."

The ex-Warden looked at Zhao for only a few seconds, before he scurried off.

Zhao watched the man flee, and felt anger well up in his stomach. He was forced to flee very similarly to the Warden had. It was a horrible feeling, and one he fully wanted to let the Avatar and his friends know of. They were children! No match for the might of General Zhao! With those thoughts swirling in his mind, he stepped forward to begin his fight. His soldiers only a few steps behind.

Toph was close, she knew it. The heat was beginning to get unbearable, but she toughened up, and trudged on. Soon she felt a metal grate, so she punched it through, and felt the source of the heat. The coal was down below, some of it was burning, but most of it was still fine to use as a form of earth. She knocked a few times on the wall of the shaft she was in so she could get a feel of the whole place. When that was done, she got to her feet, her back pressed firmly against the top of the ventilation shaft, and she buried her feet into the metal.

She let out a small breath, and breathed in deeply. She did this a few times, before she brought her hands forward, and slowly began to lift the large batch of coal up. It was difficult for her, but slowly it rose, until she jabbed her hands upward. The coal then went flying towards the top of the place, easily destroying the metal grate at the very top, and all the coal began to launch itself out into the open where the Earthbenders and the rest of Team Avatar were.

"Yes!" She whispered, before she turned back to crawl back up to the top.

Tyro watched in amazement as the children fought, and then his shock grew even more as a metal grate was sent into the air a few yards away, and then a ton of coal burst from the tiny opening, littering the ground with earth for them to bend. He and the other Earthbenders there were momentarily stunned; until they too began to help the children fight.

What little Fire Nation resistance was left was utterly crushed when the full might of the Earthbenders came into play. Suki even joined in, effectively beating any person that came into range of her. It didn't take long once the coal came, that the soldiers were running for their lives towards the barracks, praying that they would be able to escape the wrath of the Avatar.

"I think we did it." Sokka said, a smile on his face as he watched the men flee, "Take that you Fire Nation scum!" He shouted at them, "Tell them Team Avatar sent ya running!"

"Well, that did go well." Aang said, "A lot better than I thought."

Even Suki was in a great mood, laughing along with the two. Only Katara was feeling an ominous feeling, and soon that feeling was shared with Toph, who came running towards them, a frown visible on her face, "Guys, bad news."

"What?" Sokka said, turning to her, "Bad news?"

"Yeah, I can feel an old friend coming."

"Zuko?" Aang guessed, but then he shook his head, "No, that's not bad." He mumbled

"No!" Toph shouted, "Him!"

They turned to see Zhao standing over them on a railing, as he smiled down at them, "Isn't this cute? Just because you guys helped take out another prison, you decide to tackle another. This will be your downfall boy, and I will capture you this time."

"I really doubt it Zhao." Aang said, getting into a fighting stance.

"Oh, on the contrary, I don't." Zhao said, signaling forth with two fingers. Suddenly, dozens of Firebenders began to pour out of the barracks, "Now you fight my men!"

The two forces collided in a huge fight in the middle of the platform, Earthbenders versus Firebenders. Unfortunately, the Earthbenders were malnourished and weakened, so they were naturally at a disadvantage. Even with Team Avatar there to help, they weren't in the best of positions.

"I'm going to hold off Zhao." Aang said, "Toph, Sokka, can you guys takes these guys to the boats so they can get out of here?"

Sokka kicked a Firebender away before ducking below a blast from another, and swung his sword at the man to keep him at bay, "Uh, yeah, sure Aang. I'll try." He then ran forward, "Earthbenders!" He called, not sure what else to address them as, "Follow me!" He went over to Toph and grabbed her shoulder, "Come on, I need you to direct me to the docks."

Toph sighed, sinking the feet of several on coming soldiers into the metal platform, "Do I always have to do these things? You guys get to do all the fun things."

"No complaining." Sokka said, "It's important."

"Fine." She mumbled, using coal to knock out a few other men, "We got to go that way." She pointed to the barracks door, "It's on the other side of the prison."

"Then to the other side of the prison we go." Sokka said, running there with a large of pack of Earthbenders behind him.

Aang jumped in front of Zhao, who didn't even greet the Avatar before blasting fire at the boy. Aang dodged all of them, even deflecting a few at some other soldiers, "Leave us alone Zhao!" Aang said in as deep a voice as he could muster.

"Let me think about that." He said, tapping his chin a few times. "No." He said flatly, firing a few more fireballs at Aang.

Aang sent a few blasts of wind towards the man with his staff, and followed up with using coal, firing them one after another, forcing Zhao to either dodge the dangerous projectile or to destroy it in mid air. Once that small exchange was over, they were still in the same spots they had been, neither had gained any advantage over the other.

And that infuriated Zhao.

He attempted to knock Aang off his guard, but each time only served to cause Aang to strengthen his defenses. Every time Zhao sent a fireball off to try to hit him in the side, Aang would either build up a wall of coal, or just blast it away with Airbending. No matter what, they were dead even.

Aang looked down at the prison yard, and was glad to see that it was just Katara and Suki remaining there.

"Suki, Katara!" Aang called, "Get out of here! I'll hold Zhao off a little longer!"

"Ok!" Suki yelled, "Come on Katara."

Aang smiled as he watched the two run away.

Zhao let out a yell of rage, and Aang quickly built up his defense for the oncoming projectile of fire. However, he watched in horror as the flame passed by him, and went directly towards Suki, "Suki! No!" He shouted. Sokka had just gotten pass losing her once, if she was hit with that, she might actually die.

His heart jumped when Katara, ran towards Suki and pushed her out of the way, the momentum carrying her out of the way too, but it was too late, the blast hit Katara right in the torso, causing the girl to scream out in pain. Her pain was Aang's pain, and he cried out as he watched her collapse into a heap. Suki wasn't doing much better, crying out as she stumbled back up to her feet and ran to Katara, who was suffering a lot of second degree burns, and a few third degrees.

"Looks like your girlfriend is hurt," Zhao said, goading Aang into fighting, "Going to cry?"

Aang held back the tears of fury as he looked on towards Zhao, "I will never forgive you for doing that, you coward!"

"Use whatever tactics you can to win." Zhao said, "That's why the Fire Nation will always prevail over you weaklings. We don't abide by any rules like you people set during your fights. If I see an opening, I will take it, and I will kill you."

What Zhao said had more meaning that anything the man could have imagined. Aang saw in Zhao's place the Fire Lord, and Aang's refusal to kill had cost him that fight. He remembered in the war when the Fire Nation enacted a policy of warpaths, destroying all the land, crops, and life, of the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes. The other nations would never do such a thing. It destroyed the balance of the world, and all because the Fire Nation wanted to win a war even faster than they were.

Aang growled, "No Zhao, I… I'll kill you." He whispered, the words were almost foreign to him. When had he ever said that to anyone? He let out a breath; he couldn't afford to be thinking of those kinds of things.

If possible, Zhao seem to smile even more than he was before, "Good. You're finally serious. Now let's begin."

The two collided with each other in a match bred from hatred.

Down below, Suki was holding Katara, "Katara! Please, wake up!" She was shaking the girl, and watched as the Fire Nation slowly began to surround them. She grabbed her fans, and took down a few that got close, but it wasn't enough, there were too many. She then opted to pick up the girl, and try to run to the ship. However, she didn't want to touch the fresh burns that were easily visible, due to the fact that her clothes had burned away around her abdomen. Suki tried to delicately pick up the injured girl without causing even more damage.

Unfortunately, one of the Firebenders chose that time to try to light her up, but she just barely, threw herself and Katara to the side. Katara let out a yelp of pain as she landed painfully on the ground, reassuring Suki, _She's only unconscious, thank the spirits! _She thought, wiping the tears from her eyes. She got up and faced the two dozen men in front of her. She didn't think they would use Katara as bait, but then again, she wouldn't put that pass Zhao's men.

"Suki, get out of here." Katara whispered, leaning against the barracks, she was breathing heavily, and she whimpered every breath she took.

"Get out of here Katara!" Suki shouted, "You're awake now, just run! I'll hold these guys off!"

"No, I will hold them off." Katara said, she let out a gasp of pain as she slowly stood up, and she used the wall as support. Suki was about to protest, but Katara lifted an arm and swept it across the deck, and a large wave of water from the ocean came forth, knocking a lot of the unsuspecting Firebenders off their feet.

"Are you crazy Katara? You're way too badly hurt to be fighting!"

"I can't even walk without collapsing in pain." Katara said, "If I stand here, I can fight them. If it comes down to it, it's better if one of us makes it out of here instead of none of us."

Suki looked back at Katara, and the Firebenders, still undecided.

"Go, Aang will get me; he can fly me over with Appa." She said trying to give a reassuring smile.

Suki didn't buy it, but she hugged Katara, "Don't do anything stupid." She said gruffly as she ran off towards the boats.

Katara let out a sigh of relief as she watched her friend leave, and she watched the men advance towards her, "Come on." Katara whispered challengingly.

And like that the men began to fight a wounded child.

Back at the docks, Sokka and the Earthbenders were boarding the boats, while Appa landed next to them and roared, "hey boy!" Sokka said, patting the bison.

A fireball came flying pass him and the bison, causing Appa to roar and fly away as fast as he could. Sokka looked at the annoying Firebenders left on Zhao's ship, and watched as a wave of coal launched upward at them to make them stop, "Keep firing!" Tyro commanded, getting onto the smaller vessels, "We're almost home free!"

"Where are Katara and Suki?" Toph asked, "Aren't they supposed to be here?"

"They'll be here." Sokka said, trying to reassure himself as well.

He looked toward the entrance of the barracks, and let out a cry of relief as he saw Suki rushing out of the building, but she was visibly crying, and then he noticed Katara wasn't coming out. He could feel his heart stop for a moment, and the blood rushed to his ears, and Suki slammed into him, hugging him tightly.

"Katara?" He whispered.

"I had to leave her behind." Suki cried, "Zhao hurt her, and I couldn't bring her, I would have been defenseless…"

Sokka blinked several times, holding back the tears, as he looked to Tyro. Even Toph was very quiet.

"We're almost out of coal," Tyro whispered, "We can go back for her, but I don't think these boats can take much more of a beating from these Firebenders. It's your call boy," He said to Sokka, "Your group saved us, we're indebted to you."

_Not again. _He thought, getting flashbacks to when he had to make a very similar decision on Kyoshi Island. _No, no, no, no! _He mentally screamed. His restrain at holding his tears at bay were forgotten as he fell to his knees.

"We can't afford to go back." One of Tyro's men said, "There's another Fire Nation boat coming this way!"

Sokka looked up, and could have shouted for joy he was so happy, "Zuko!" He said, a smile crossing his face. Tyro looked at the boy and raised an eyebrow.

"Friend of yours?"

"Not really." Sokka said, remembering that he didn't want to give away Zuko's position as their ally, even to his future allies. Wiping his tears away he said, "But he will take care of my sister. We have to get out of here."

"What about the Avatar?"

"He'll come." Sokka said, "He's holding off Zhao."

"All right then," Tyro said, seeing that the boats were ready to go, "Let's go home men!"

The Earthbenders, Sokka, Toph, Appa, and Suki left the docks, heading for the mainland.

Zuko watched the ships leave from his deck, but he didn't veer off course to intercept them. Instead, he fully intended to dock at the base, _what is going on? _He thought as he saw a few of his friends leave, _they're supposed to tell me where to go._ Nonetheless, he still kept on course, not seeing Katara or Aang on the boats.

Upon docking, he got a dozen men, and his uncle to come with him, "The Avatar is still here."

"Are you certain?" Iroh asked.

Zuko looked at his uncle, a huge wave of emotions washing over him. Thankfulness, relief, appreciation, and many others continued through. He shook his head. That had been the first time he even looked at his uncle since the merge had occurred.

"Y- Yes, I'm sure."

Iroh nodded, and the group of men went through the prison and came across a scene that completely shocked Zuko. The whole platform was a watery puddle, and Katara was dealing with the men. He watched as they were slowly being dragged around, but Zuko narrowed his eyes at the scene, _Katara should be able to handle this easily enough since all around us is water._ He then looked at her, and his eyes widened in shock.

She was burnt, badly, and she was also very bloodied, with blood coming from her nose, and several cuts covering her body. Her clothes were in tatter and her hair was unkempt, and overall she looked like a complete mess. He could barely stand to look at her without losing his cool and going after the men who had done this to her.

"Enough!" He shouted, stepping forth, "She's just a girl! Can't you guys see you've tortured her enough as it is?"

The Firebenders who had been fighting her looked up at Zuko, their guard let down slightly. Katara looked up at Zuko, and finally she felt safe enough. She felt the fatigue, and pain catch up to her, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed to the ground.

"She needs a doctor, immediately." Zuko said, turning to his uncle.

Iroh could see that Zuko was panicking, "Calm down Zuko, don't blow your cover." He whispered to the boy.

Zuko forced himself to breath in and out several times, and then he looked up to see Aang fighting Zhao fiercely. The rest of the men down below also began to watch, and then seconds later began to send fireballs up to assist Zhao.

Aang was not doing well. His anger blinded him, and he was being beat by Zhao of all people. He was being burnt left and right, and he could feel the effects of fatigue beginning to set in. He breathed heavily, but soon had to move again as several dozen fireballs were sent towards him. He dodged a lot of them; the heat of several near hits had him sweating even worse than he was before hand.

"You've lost Avatar." Zhao said, "Now come quietly, or I will have to burn you like I did to the Water Tribe girl."

Aang growled, and looked down at Katara, but his breath was caught short. He looked down and saw Zuko and Iroh near her body, protecting her from any of the other men down there. She looked very badly injured, even dead, but from the look on their faces, she was still alive. He could have cried, but knew what he had to do, and that prevented him from doing any celebration.

_Zuko, please, I trust you to take good care of her. _He saw Zuko look up, and the two locked eyes with one another. Zuko nodded, and Aang didn't show any visible sign of acknowledgement, not wanting Zhao to see.

"I have to go." Aang said, "I'll… See you around Zhao." Aang said, and he flicked his staff to make his glider appear.

"No you don't Avatar!" He shouted, but his protest died when Aang shot a huge blast of wind towards him before flying off, making Zhao unable to counter attack. "Run!" Zhao shouted, "Just run away like a coward! I will make an example of your girlfriend! I will kill her!" Aang didn't even respond, but just kept flying off.

Zhao growled as he watched the Avatar flee until he was a dot on the horizon, and then he went down to the courtyard where all the other Fire Nation soldiers were. He made a beeline for the fallen girl, his eyes filled with malice, but he was stopped when Zuko stepped in front of him, "She comes with me."

"Do not test my patience Zuko." Zhao said, "This is your only warning, get out of my way."

"No. I challenge you to an Agni Kai over her." He said.

Zhao was taken aback by the offer, "The girl is such small stakes though." Zhao said off handedly.

"If I lose, you can keep the girl, and I will forfeit my life to you." Zuko said, "If I win, I get the girl."

Zhao smiled, "A little overconfident are we?"

Zuko didn't smile, "No. I will defeat you."

"You better be willing to bet your life on that boy." Zhao said, cracking his neck, "I just fought the Avatar, but I can easily deal with an insolent insect like you."

"We'll see." Zuko said, taking off his armor, and then his shirt. Zhao did the same, and soon the two were surrounded by their men in a large circle. Both of them were facing one another. Off to the side, Iroh was tending to Katara, he didn't have any medicine, or anything to ease the pain, but he was able to cut up his robe and use it to cover the wounds on her. It was the very best that could be done at the moment.

Zhao didn't wait to saw anymore, stepping forward and shooting a fireball straight at Zuko, who just swept his hand across and sent the fireball straight to the ground. And like that they just exchanged a few warming up shots, Zhao cracking his neck, and stretching his muscles the entire time. Zuko knew it was an intimidating tactic, Zhao had more than enough of a warm up against Aang.

Regardless, Zuko kept it up to appease Zhao for now, and to warm himself up. Soon however, Zhao made the first move, and the true fight began. They exchanged several blows, even getting so close that they tried to kick and punch each other without the aid of fire. Zhao was the stronger of the two, no doubt, but Zuko knew his speed was key to winning the match. He would move out of the way of every blow Zhao did instead of trying to block it. Each time would wear Zhao down just a little more.

It was obvious to Zhao what Zuko was doing however, and so he tried to predict Zuko's movements ahead of time. It worked once, catching Zuko completely off guard, and nearly burning his chest badly, but Zuko was able to redirect the fire at the very last minute.

Zuko was not holding back, the stakes were far too high. Not only were his friends trust with him to save Katara, and that his life was done if he lost, but he felt a sort of glee when he fought. He loved the feeling of being able to match Zhao in terms of mastery of Firebending. He assumed it was part of the merge, and again he couldn't tell if it was his past self happiness at being a master, or his future's self at being able to get revenge of Zhao for all the horrible things the man did in his life. Regardless, Zuko still kept going.

Zuko finally got a good hit in, kicking Zhao right in the abdomen. Zhao stumbled back from the blow, and Zuko followed it up with bending fire in with his punches to his chest. Zhao let out a cry of pain, and he fell down to one knee.

"Give up now, Zhao." Zuko said, standing over his body.

"Never," Zhao said harshly, "I refuse to be beaten by a failure such as you!"

Zuko knew that the stakes meant that they would likely fight until they collapsed, so Zuko did something that he knew he would probably regret later on. He took a deep breath, before doing several smooth motions with both hands, and a trickle of electricity began to form at his fingertips. He heard several people gasp from the sideline, and even Iroh was looking on in shock and awe. Zuko felt the attack was ready, and aim it at Zhao, before at the very last second he aimed it to go right by his head. The close proximity of the blast easily burnt the mans head, but he was too shocked to care.

"I can beat you if I wanted to Zhao." Zuko said, "You're too weak now."

Zhao was shocked by Zuko's display of strength, and he growled, knowing Zuko was right. He was quiet for several minutes, before he glared upward at Zuko, "They girl's all yours." He then walked away, "Men! We're leaving!"

Zuko let a small smile cross his face at defeating Zhao, and he turned to Katara, "We need a doctor immediately. Do we have someone on the ship that can look at her?"

"We have some ointment that we can use on her, but we'd need to go to a village to treat her properly." Iroh said.

Zuko rubbed his hand against his the hair on his head, "Ok, that's what we'll do now." He decided, "Men, to the ship!" He said standing.

Iroh very gently picked her up, one hand holding her knees, while the other holding her shoulder. He followed a near panicked Zuko back towards the ship, along with their crew.

Tyro opened the door to his house, and his wife let out a gasp as she saw who it was. Soon the distance between the two was covered, and they were hugging each other tightly.

"What is going on?" She finally asked as they parted, "did they let you go?"

Tyro smiled, "The Avatar saved us."

Her eyes widened in surprise, "So it's true? The Avatar is back?"

"He's right here." Tyro said, waving in Aang, who was quickly followed by Sokka, Toph, and Suki.

"Hello." Aang said, waving at the woman.

"Oh my, you're a lot younger than I thought you would be." She said.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Aang said shrugging.

"Thank you for saving my husband," She said, bowing to him, "We are in your debt."

"It's my job." Aang said, smiling at the two.

The door suddenly opened, and a young boy rushed in, and upon seeing Tyro he allowed a gigantic smile onto his face, "Father! The rumors were true then! The prison was taken out!"

"Yes, Haru," Tyro said, "It wouldn't have been possible without them though." He again pointed out Aang and his friends.

Haru looked toward Aang, "Thank you Avatar."

"No problem." Aang said, getting a little uncomfortable.

"If there is anything I can do, all you need to do is just ask." Tyro said.

Sokka chose this moment to talk, "Actually, there is something you might be able to help with. In the summer there will be a solar eclipse. During that time, we are going to launch an invasion on the Fire Nation. We would be honored to have you and the other Earthbenders here assist us in this assault."

"A direct assault on the Fire Nation?" Tyro said, "I like the sound of that. I'll do it, and I will recruit anyone else who wants to come as well."

"Good." Aang said, "We will contact you with a letter on the specific details in time."

"Thank you for helping us Avatar." Tyro said, "You have restored my hope, and I wish you the best luck in your future endeavors."

Team Avatar left the house, and the mood quickly dropped from then on as they walked to Appa. Aang grabbed the reins to Appa, and Sokka patted him on the shoulder, "You know, you can talk to me about it."

"There's not much to say." Aang muttered evasively, "Zuko is taking good care of her. I trust him to do that for me."

"And he won't fail. Zhao did not get Katara." Sokka said.

"I hope you're right." Aang sighed, and the group flew on to their next destination.

**Chapter eight - End**


	10. Chapter 9

A/N - This was a really fun chapter to write. I don't know if you guys will enjoy it quite as much, but if you do, please say so. I might make more chapters like this one if you guys like it. Actually, I might make more anyway because this was some of the most fun I had writing this story.

Also, I have my reaction to the movie at the end, and my reaction is... less than favorable, so check that out if you want to.

Thank you for reading, and please enjoy!

**Chapter nine**

Zhao knew that Zuko was not part of the Fire Nation any longer. When Zuko had won that decisive Agni Kai, he immediately left to tend to the girl, the very one he had let into the concentration camp a week ago. Zhao had watched as Zuko called for his uncle to help the Water Tribe girl, and very gently he led them through the now defunct prison to his ship, and Zuko left right there, not even sparing a glance back.

Not only was the behavior uncharacteristic of Zuko to care about his prisoners so much, but the way he acted during the duel. He was a confident young man, who could easily match Zhao, and maybe even surpass him in a fight. A month ago, Zuko could barely look Zhao straight in the eye without snarling at the man, but now he was calm and collected.

The pieces did not fall into place for Zhao, but he knew something had happened.

Two months ago, with his last run in with Zuko, Zhao saw how Zuko behaved then – like a spoiled child who was temporarily grounded. Of course, Zuko would deny it, but it was still true in Zhao's eyes. Now, the last thing on Zuko's mind was to get home, and Zhao wasn't even sure if that was his drive anymore.

"He's helping the Avatar." Zhao said his thoughts aloud, he stood on the bridge of his gigantic black ship, his hands crossed behind his back, and facing the direction the ship was going. The crew looked up at Zhao, but didn't say anything, they knew Zhao disliked Zuko, and hearing him accuse Zuko of such wild things was what they heard on a daily basis when Zhao was angry or deep in thought.

"Who, sir?" One of the men asked, humoring Zhao in the mean time.

"Zuko," Zhao said, "He cared too much for the girl. The girl he had let into the concentration camp about a week ago. Don't you agree?"

The man paused to think it over, "Well, if you think about it, maybe he was eager because he's just an adolescent boy, General, maybe you're thinking outside the box a little bit too much?"

"No, I know Zuko wouldn't do something like that." Zhao muttered, "He does have more honor than that, just barely." Zhao allowed, "I think he saved her because the Avatar was unable to with all the soldiers she was fighting. So he had Zuko do it."

"You're accusing the Fire Lords son of treason then?"

"He's not the Fire Lords son any longer," Zhao reminded, "I was there when he was banished from the Fire Nation. He has to hunt down the Avatar to restore his honor."

"Then why are we trying to capture the Avatar?"

Zhao glanced back at the man who said that to him, "Because he doesn't deserve anything. He forced his fate upon himself, and I fully intend to do anything in my power to keep him in his place in the world."

The tone of Zhao's voice and him looking back outside the window meant that the conversation was over. His crew shrugged, not sure why exactly Zhao had such an intense hatred for a child, but no one dared to question him further on the topic, so the rest of the day's patrol on the ship was awkwardly quiet.

Katara looked around, and tried not to panic. She was in a large black void of darkness, nothing to see around her for miles upon miles, except a girl a few yards away from her, sobbing loudly with her arms wrapped around her legs. Katara walked forward, and then noticed that she was in her older body, she was not much taller, her features were sharp, but slender, losing all the roundness that she once had in her younger days, and replacing it with muscle and womanly curves.

"Hello?" Katara spoke, her voice was deeper, but not entirely so.

The girl crying looked up, and through her tears she looked around, "W-Who's there?"

Katara walked over to her, but stopped halfway there. She knew this girl, in fact, she was this girl. It was her younger self, the fourteen year old version of her. She had her hair loops, and wore her long hair braided, something the future Katara never bothered with anymore. Young Katara was still quietly crying, but she wiped a few tears from her eyes, and continued to stare at the old version of herself.

"You're me?" Old Katara said, unsure of what to make of this development.

Young Katara still didn't say anything, hiccupping a few times, still trying to compose herself in front of someone new, even if it just did end up being herself looking older.

"Why are we here? What is going on?" Old Katara asked again.

"I- I don't know. I went to bed one night, and then when I woke up I was here."

"What?"

"Sokka and I were going to bed early that night because we were going to go fishing early the next morning." She said, divulging more details, "When I woke up though, I was not in my bed, I was here. I tried to find a way out, but all around here is just darkness. I can see only myself in here, and there is nothing else." Young Katara tried hard not to begin crying again, "I can't get out, I have tried and tried…"

Old Katara felt like she was just punched in the stomach repeatedly. She didn't want to acknowledge that she did this to this girl, herself, but the more she thought of it, the more she began to wonder what did exactly happen to their other selves? They were here before they came. Katara then came to her realization; _we stole their bodies from them. _It was sickening to think about, _Six innocent children, taken away from their lives. No wonder she is crying, she has been stuck in here for weeks now with no way out possible._

"Katara, right?" Old Katara said, kneeling down in front of the young girl, "As you can probably guess, I am Katara too."

Young Katara looked up at the older version of herself. She had suspected as much, but to see herself become a beautiful image brought a small smile to her lips, "You look nice."

"Thank you." Old Katara said, patting her younger self on the shoulder as she sat next to her, "I think I know what happened to you too."

Young Katara glanced over at her, "What?"

"I am sorry," Old Katara mumbled, realizing her younger self just wanted the novelty of talking to herself to last. It was an odd concept, since they both thought similarly, but nowhere near the same things. Instead she decided to reveal the big news once she was done telling her younger self everything she wanted to know, "We can talk about other things first if you want."

Young Katara showed her a grateful smile, "I'm sorry, I have just been here for so long, and I don't want you to go so soon." She said, her smile falling at the mere thought of being alone came across her, "It's quiet in here."

"I can see." Old Katara said, looking around the place, "So, what do you want to know?"

Young Katara's puffy eyes lit up in excitement, "Are you really me from the future?"

"Yes." Old Katara answered, "twelve years from now."

Young Katara stared in amazement, "How? why?" She asked.

"It's not a happy story," Old Katara warned. She paused to think about where to begin, "In my time, the Fire Nation won." Her younger self gasped in horror, "The Earth Kingdom was completely destroyed, and the Water Tribes were scattered ruins, both north and south. Only a small group of people still fought, even though it was completely useless." Old Katara smiled slightly at that, "The group consisted of the Avatar, Sokka, Me, and three other people you don't know." Katara revealed.

"The Avatar?" Her younger self said in awe, "He came back?"

"Yeah," Katara mumbled, "I found him when I was your age."

"Then… What? Is all of this supposed to happen?" She gestured around to the place they were in.

"Spirits no!" Old Katara said, laughing a small bit, "No, what did happen to you is something I don't think I can ever forgive myself for."

"What happened?" Young Katara said, her heart pounding in her chest. She had wanted to hold off on this particular topic, but seeing as her future self was involved in it somehow, she was now curious to know the truth.

"Like I said, my friends and I were fighting against the Fire Nation who had already won. There was little point to it, and sometimes we just considered going after Ozai and ending it in a massive fight." She sighed at that, "Of course it was suicide, but at that point it didn't matter. We weren't a real threat to him; we were more of a nuisance to him at best. Then we found a scroll." Her eyes glossed over as she recalled what it said, "It said something along the lines of, 'this will fix your past mistakes'."

"Sounds vague." Young Katara said, listening intently.

"Yeah, it was very vague. We didn't know what it meant by past mistakes, but we figured we would give it a shot, we had nothing to lose, and it gave us hope." Old Katara said, "It did something wonderful, and as I found out, something terrible as well." She looked down sadly, "It brought us to the past." She sighed, "I returned to the day Sokka and I were going to go fishing, the day that we found the Avatar."

She let the implications sink in for her younger self, not saying a single word.

Finally young Katara got over her shock, "S- so, all of this…" She gestured around, "Is because you came to the past?"

"I took over your body." Old Katara said bluntly, "I took your life away from you, and I didn't even think about if there was someone else who was in the body before me." She covered her face in shame, "I can't believe no one thought of that."

"Maybe you were busy with other things?" Young Katara suggested.

Old Katara looked over to her younger self, and tried to talk, but couldn't force herself to. _Is she not mad? _She wondered.

Upon seeing her older self's reaction, young Katara, looked away, "You did it for a good cause. If it's between my life and saving the world, I'll do what's right."

"You're that selfless?" Old Katara asked, "You're acting as though this isn't a big deal!"

"You and your friends came back to save the world right? And you didn't know what the scroll meant anyway. You guys came back to repeat everything over again, just so you could get a shot at the Fire Nation again. It's admirable." Young Katara said.

"You're just letting it off the hook like that?" Katara asked.

"There's nothing left to do other than forgive and forget." She said, smiling at her older self, "If I am stuck here, at least I know my body will be used to save the world – that reminds me, did you ever master Waterbending?"

Old Katara watched in pure amazement at her younger self, and she leaned forward to give the younger girl a hug. Young Katara was a little surprised, but she embraced her older self, and soon she was silently crying into her shoulder. Older Katara just held the quietly crying girl, a young girl who thought there was no way out of her predicament, trying to make the best of everything that happened to her.

She looked down at her younger self, _Had I been like this at one point? _She would like to think that she was good, but she didn't know if she could forgive someone like her younger self did to her. It just didn't seem possible, _in her own way, she is much stronger than me. _She rubbed the crying girls back.

When she was done crying again, young Katara parted from her older self, and sat next to her again, "I'm sorry, I have been crying a lot lately."

"It's understandable really." Old Katara said.

"So can you tell me about my life then? Did I ever master Waterbending?"

Old Katara laughed at her younger self's questioning, "All right, I have a lot of time on my hands, and yes, I am a master Waterbender, I taught the Avatar after all." Her one person audience took that well, she gasped in awe and leaned forward to hear more.

And more she was told, Katara poured out every detail of her last life to the girl. She didn't know if it were cruel to tell her so much of this, since she was locked in this strange world, but old Katara figured her younger self had a right to know. She went over The North Pole, and how mean Master Pakku was.

"Not teaching a girl to Waterbend?" Her younger self said, scoffing at that, "What a stupid rule!"

"That's exactly what I said!" Old Katara laughed.

She then went over the siege of the North Pole, and how they ended up winning because Aang fused with the ocean spirit. She then went over meeting Toph, she went over Ba Sing Se, and how horrible a place it was, she talked about the Dai Li, and how they took over the city with the Fire Nation princess. Katara told how evil Azula was, and how if she ever met the girl, she should just run. She then went over the fight in the city's catacombs, and how Zuko betrayed her and Aang.

She then went over the death of the Avatar, much to her younger self's horror.

"She shot him with a bolt of lightning in the back as he was rising into the air with the power of the Avatars surrounding him. That bolt of lightning killed him." Katara looked down, "I watched in horror as he fell, but thankfully I was able to catch him."

"What did you do then?"

"Iroh showed up," Old Katara said, "He's part of the Fire Nation, the general who laid siege to Ba Sing Se about six years ago. He's a good man though, he knows the war has to end, and he would do anything to help us end it. After that, I escaped with Aang, and used the spirit water from the oasis I got from the Northern Water Tribe."

"Did it bring him back?"

"Yeah, but just barely. He was badly injured, and if he didn't receive medical attention, then he would have just died right away. Thankfully, as a Waterbender I can heal, so we were good."

"Waterbenders can heal?" Her young self said in awe.

"Sorry, I forgot to go over that with you, there's a lot to tell."

Her young self only gestured for her to continue, so she did so. She began to explain what life in the Fire Nation was like, and how the Fire Lord doesn't treat his people right. She then went over the failed invasion, and then the defeat of the combustion man, and the introduction of Zuko into their group.

"I didn't trust him at all." Old Katara said, "I would rather Aang have killed him than to let him join the group. So the night he joined us, I told him I would kill him if he stepped out of line."

"Did he?"

"No," Katara sighed, "He was genuinely trying to help us. He wanted me to trust him, but I wouldn't, so he told me he knew who killed our mother." At this her younger self got very quiet, "I wanted revenge, but Aang stopped me and told me to think things through, and to not kill the man who killed our mother. I was so furious with this man, that I did something I didn't think I would ever resort to doing, and will never use again…"

"And what is that?"

"Bloodbending." Katara said, "During a full moon, a very skilled Waterbender can bend the blood in people's bodies. You can stop their blood flow, break their bones, and many horrible things. I did it to who I thought was the man who killed our mother, but it wasn't him. I remember seeing Zuko's expression when he saw what I did. He didn't say anything aloud, probably out of fear that I would do it to him, but I could tell he was afraid of me for a moment there." She shuddered at his haunted expression.

"What did you do when you found the real guy?"

"He was a frail weak old man, and I was fully intending to kill him. I told him who I was, and he recognized me as the little girl from back then. I formed a lot of ice spikes from a rain around me, and threw them at him, then at the last second, I stopped."

"You stopped?"

"I couldn't do it." She mumbled, "I couldn't take another man's life, especially out of revenge. Aang's words went through me, and I realized that killing this man would be a mistake. He was a pathetic man, and I refused to stoop to his level."

Katara was quiet. Even after all this time, talking about her mother still hurt her. She couldn't imagine how her younger self felt about it all. "It's good that you listened to Aang," Her younger self said, and Katara didn't hide her shock.

"What?"

"It's wrong to kill people for what they did in the past. Killing is wrong." Young Katara said firmly.

"I was your age once, I know whenever I thought about it, I would get angry, and want to hurt the man who dared to take mother away from me!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind yelling and screaming at the man, maybe give him a permanent scar or two, but to kill him?" She sighed, "I don't know if I could kill."

Old Katara looked at her younger self, _did I really think like that once? _She wondered. "Maybe it was the hardships I was going through."

"Yeah."

It was quiet for a few seconds, which stretched into minutes.

"So, what happened after that?" Young Katara asked.

And so she went over the liberation of Ba Sing Se, the forces led by Iroh of all people. She went over the fact that Aang was missing, and then went over the fact that she and Zuko had to go to the Fire Nation capital to make Zuko the new Fire Lord instead of his sister. She went into great detail of the fight, since that is the one she was there for, but she mentioned that Sokka, Toph, and Suki destroyed a huge amount of airships, while Aang fought Ozai.

"Question!" Younger Katara said, interrupting Old Katara.

"Uh, yes?"

"I keep hearing a lot about Zuko, did you and him start a, uh, relationship?" Her younger self asked, a small blush crossing her cheeks.

Katara didn't know how to react to that, so she just laughed a little bit, but it soon followed with full blown laughter, "Zuko? No!" she cried out, her sides beginning to hurt from her constant laughter, "Spirits no! What would ever give you that idea?" Old Katara asked, wiping tears from her eyes she laughed so hard.

"You guys just end up paired a lot," Young Katara said, a small blush on her face.

"Yeah," Old Katara said, "It must be divine intervention of something, like someone likes to see us be together."

"Huh, that's weird." Her younger self said, "So who did you end up with?"

"How do you know I ended up with someone?" Old Katara asked, "For all you know, I may have stayed single the entire time while fighting the Fire Nation."

"Yeah, but I know now because that answer gave it away." Young Katara said, "Now who was it!"

"You probably wouldn't believe me."

"Come on!" Young Katara pleaded.

"I'm with Aang." She said, watching as her younger self blinked a few times.

"The Avatar?" She asked in wonder.

"The one and only."

"How?"

"It was obvious from the beginning, to everyone but me anyway, or that is what Sokka tells me, and I take everything about relationships he tells me with a grain of salt. Anyway, he told me he was always trying to get my attention throughout our travels, until he pretty much just outright told me before the invasion by kissing me outright before we went to battle."

"That's sudden." Young Katara sounded disappointed.

"Yeah, but he had to go face the Fire Lord then, and we weren't sure if he would make it back or not, so I guess he thought to just get it over with and deal with the consequences later."

"That's not very romantic." Young Katara sighed.

"Romantic?" old Katara laughed, "Aang is not romantic at all, but it's charming in a way." She said smiling, "He is the kindest person I could have gotten to be with me, and whenever I see him, I get a warm feeling inside of me." Old Katara gushed.

Young Katara looked at her oddly, "You're head over heels for him." She concluded.

"Well, not all the time. We know when to set our relationship aside and do business, but when it's not time for that, we're practically inseparable."

"When did you realize you liked him?"

"Well, he admitted he loved me at the invasion by kissing me, outright told me before while we were on Ember Island, but the moment I realized I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life? Would probably be when he failed to defeat Ozai on that day…"

"Oh," Young Katara said, "That sucks."

"Yeah, he was close to dying, but Sokka, Toph, and Suki were able to rescue him then." She sighed, "That is when things started to go downhill. Zuko was acknowledged as the Fire Lord, Ozai then began his conquests of Ba Sing Se, after it was weakened by two battles in the same year. The outer wall was damaged beyond repair at that point, and the inner wall was crumbling around them. He then set his sights of the North Pole, and utterly decimated them."

"Where were you during all this?"

"We were fighting off the sieges. It was in the North Pole when I killed my first person." She said, "You will never forget your first kill…" She mumbled.

"Who was it?"

"I couldn't even see his face, but it was some soldier who was about to kill an innocent child inside the city, I didn't even think as I rushed forward and Waterbended a jagged piece of ice in my hands. The child thanked me, but I was still shocked and appalled that I did it. Back then I would constantly wonder why I didn't pin him to the wall, or do something. I think though, the reason I did it, was because the little girl reminded me so much of me, and I didn't want harm to come to her."

"Wow, so you never, um, ended people after that?" Her younger self asked.

"I have killed seventeen people." Old Katara said.

"Really?"

"I will never forget. Each death is still inside my head…" She mumbled, "A- Anyway, so yeah. We would occasionally come across some resistance forces, and they usually had initial success with us, but then the Fire Nation army would come and decimate us. Soon, no one would take us in or hide us, so we fled to the South Pole and hid out with Gran Gran."

"Did the Fire Nation find you?"

"Yeah, they always do." She sighed, "They wiped out the whole village."

"So Gran Gran-"

"Yeah, she didn't make it."

They were quiet for a little bit, until her younger self finally interrupted the silence, "So the rest of your story is like that? You guys running?"

"Pretty much, but Azula's friends Mai and Ty Lee were helping us at this point. They died in an ambush though, that we all would have died in if it weren't for Aang…"

"Sounds tough."

"You could say that." Old Katara sighed, "And that's my story." She looked around, "Can you tell how much time has passed in here."

"No." Young Katara admitted, "I haven't been able to tell. Why? Are you going to leave?" Old Katara couldn't help but look away when her younger self looked like she might begin to cry again, "Will this be the last time I see you?"

"I think I came here to escape the pain from my injures. The furthest part of my mind…"

"Injures?" Her younger self asked, "Are they bad?"

"I got burned really badly."

"That isn't good."

"No, I need to get out to heal it, but I don't want to leave you here alone." She said, "There has to be a way I can get you out…"

"Don't worry about me." Her young self tried to reassure her, but old Katara wouldn't hear any of it.

"You are getting out of here one way or another, or else we're going to be stuck here together."

At that declaration, the room flared white, the brightness overwhelming their senses, making them cover their eyes. Upon seeing the white room, both stood up and walked next to each other for a little bit.

"I didn't grow very tall…" Young Katara said, almost eye level with her older self.

"Please, don't get started on that." Old Katara sighed, "I hear it all the time from Toph."

They looked forward, and as if out from nowhere, a simple white wooden door stood. They walked around it, and upon seeing nothing on either side, opened the door. The light shone brighter inside the door than the brightness outside, so they quickly closed it.

"What is that?" Young Katara asked.

"I-" She paused, a ton of thoughts pouring into her head as she thought of the door, "It merges us into one person."

"What?" Young Katara asked.

"If one walks through this door, they get control of the body. If both of us walk through the door, it will merge us into one person."

"Wait, so I won't get to talk to you anymore?" Young Katara didn't look too happy by that prospect; even though the thought of getting out did excite her.

"We'll be one." Old Katara said, "I'll leave it up to you, we both can go through, or just you."

"What?"

"I stole this body from you, so it's your decision if we merge or not."

Young Katara knew the right thing to do, and so did said, "Let's both go through." Before Old Katara reached to open the door though, her younger counterpart gave her a hug, "I'm going to miss you!"

"We'll always be together, literally."

"Yeah, but talking to yourself is a little insane," Young Katara said.

Her older self laughed, "Yeah, it's usually frowned upon." She reached out and grabbed her younger self's hand, and the two opened the door and walked through together. They spared each other one last glance before the brightness became too much, and both of them were merged into one being.

Zuko sat over Katara, putting another wet cloth over her forehead. After her near life threatening injure, she got a fever, and was declining quickly. Fortunately, he and his uncle managed to find a doctor at a nearby village, posing as refugees to get their aid. They gave her as much treatment as they could, and then told them what to do from then on out and gave them some things to use on the burns. Thankfully, the fever hadn't gotten worse, and she wasn't wincing as often anymore when she slept, something which she had been doing constantly the first few days of her injuries.

He leaned forward and pulled the blanket over her shoulders, where the fabric of Iroh's robe he put on her were showing slightly. He knew it was a pointless gesture, but he detested not feeling useful when his friends were harmed. He looked around his room, as if hoping that something would pop up to help him wake her up, but nothing appeared.

"Of all the people this could have happened to, why did it have to be her?" He mumbled. Katara was the group's healer. Aang never learned that branch of Waterbending unfortunately, though now he might have to as a precaution, in case if another situation like this happened.

One of the worst things though, was that he was sailing blind. He truthfully had no idea where Aang or the rest of his friends were at. They were supposed to tell him at the prison, but Zhao's arrival there had screwed everything up. They were very lucky he got there when he did, and that he saved Katara from that man. Zuko felt his stomach twist, knowing that if Zhao had gotten Katara, that she wouldn't be alive now.

Zuko leaned forward, about to fall into another restless sleep when suddenly Katara groaned. He looked up hopefully. She had made noises in her sleep a few times in the past, but it was all just false alarms.

His prayers were answered though, when she slowly began to open her eyes. They were cracked open, and she opened her mouth to speak, but she ended up coughing.

"Your mouth probably feels like a dessert." Zuko said. Katara's eyes widened upon hearing him, "Don't worry, I'm a friend, Zuko."

Her eyesight began to focus and she looked over at him, she swallowed, though her mouth was so dry it was very painful to do.

"Here," Zuko said, giving her a small cup of water he poured from a small barrel of clean water, "This should clear up your mouth."

Katara gratefully took the cup, and downed the entire cup. She coughed a little bit more, "Thanks." She said, "More."

"Sure thing." Zuko said, filling it up with more. However, when he was doing that, Katara sat up, and she immediately let out a painful shout. She went to lay back down, abdomen on fire from that simple movement, and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Zuko had dropped the cup full of water out of shock, but when he saw what she had done his face went white, "Don't sit up!" He shouted, "You were hurt really bad!"

She glared at him, tears beginning to fall, "Thanks for the warning." She said through gritted teeth. Reflexively she wanted to arch her back from the pain hurting her so badly, but from doing that it caused even more pain. She was gasping for breath, the pain nearly knocking her out.

Zuko was nearly panicking, "Oh crap, oh crap!" He then dug through a bag the doctors had given him, filled with creamed and ointments to use on burns. "Don't move Katara," He said, it looked like from the intense glare he was receiving she was about to talk back, "Save it!" Zuko said, "I'm going to try and get rid of the pain for you!"

She was still breathing heavily, but she nodded, and allowed Zuko to roll the blanket off of her. He then began to remove the robe covering her body. He was blushing like mad, but thankfully she wore her wrappings around her chest, the doctors applied fresh ones for the girl. Even so, Zuko did his best to act like a gentleman, cursing inside of his mind, _I have seen a girl's body before! Why am I blushing? _He cursed again.

He got the robe off fully, even though the back of the robe rubbed against the burn making her hold back another whimper of pain. He then grabbed the ointment his uncle had used on her, and dipped his fingers into it, _I don't know how to apply this stuff... _He thought, "Forgive me if this hurts Katara." He said, deciding that he didn't want to risk her falling unconscious from the pain, "You're doing really well, You're tolerating the pain really well."

She was about to say something back, but then he began to rub the cream onto her scorching wounds, and she let out a sigh of relief as the pain began to recede, and the cool cream did its work. It was as if Ice was put on heated metal, her shoulders began to loosen, as the tension they once held began to melt away.

"I need to get your back too," Zuko said, mastering his blush a little more. He had watched his uncle do this, thankfully, so he very gently roll her to side, making her lean that way, and then he applied the ointment to the burn wounds on the back, "You need to sit like that for a few minutes so the cream doesn't wipe off onto the bed," Zuko said, "Are you ok with that?"

Katara nodded, though she could still feel pain, it wasn't nearly as intense as it was just seconds before, "Thank you."

"No problem." He said, getting onto his knees next to the mattress, and letting out a big sigh.

Her face was facing away from him, and she was glad. It felt like she was meeting a new friend when she saw Zuko, and the thought of the merge entered her mind, "Hey, Zuko, something weird happened when I was sleeping."

"Hm?" He grunted, grabbing the cup off the floor, and filling it up with water, "Here, drink some more water."

She accepted the water, making sure not to spill it from her awkward position from the cup. Instead, she slowly moved her hand, and bended the water out of the cup and into her mouth. Zuko leaned over again and grabbed the empty cup out of her hands when she held it up.

"So what happened in your dream?" Zuko asked, "More water?"

"No thanks." She said to his question, "I, well, it wasn't even a dream really."

"Oh?" Zuko muttered, now it was beginning to interest him.

"Yeah, I went to this weird black place, and in there I met my younger self." Her voice turned very serious, "Zuko, when we came back to the past, we pushed our other selves out of their bodies, and put them in the back of our mind!"

"I know."

"What?" Katara said, she attempted to roll over to look straight at Zuko, but he was able to reach out and hold his palm on the back of her wrappings.

"Don't move." He said seriously.

"Right," She said, "But you know?"

"Yeah, I had the same experience. You went into a dark room and met yourself, and now you're have a small crisis trying to figure out which personality you are, right?"

"Uh," Katara thought about it, "No, we merged. We're one now."

"And you just accept that?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? There's no reason to think on it."

"It's been bugging me for over a week now." He sighed, "Whenever I do something, almost anything, I begin to question whether it was my future self, or my past self. I feel like I have to organize my actions, and it's driving me insane."

"But you're not two separate people now." Katara said, wishing she could give Zuko her 'you're acting stupid' look.

"Yeah but-"

"Do you always have to be brooding about something?"

"It's all I have been able to do since this happened to you." Zuko admitted, "I have had more than enough time to think."

Katara allowed a guilty face to come across her face, "I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be." Zuko said, shrugging, "You did what had to be done. I'm just glad I was able to get you out of there in time. The doctors uncle and I took you to said that if you had arrived a few hours later, they might not have been able to save you. They said something about infections, and stuff like that, I wasn't listening - I was just glad you were ok."

"Thank you." She said, "For saving my life."

"I couldn't let you die." Zuko said, "You're a good friend of mine."

At that Katara smiled, "You're a good friend too."

Zuko nodded, filling the cup with more water, "Here, you should drink more." He leaned over to hand it to her again, and she accepted it again. She bended it like before, and handed the cup back again, "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, It still hurts a lot, but not nearly as bad." At that she looked thoughtful, "How long was I out for anyway?"

"A week." Zuko said, watching as her shoulder tensed, "You were really sick."

"An entire week?" She whispered.

"That's right. Even worse though, I have no idea where everyone else is going. We had to leave so quickly that Aang couldn't tell me at all. I have been blindly wandering the ocean, hoping to find any source of his location, but I haven't been so lucky. I was hoping that you'd have some sort of idea."

"Not that I would know of." Katara said, "We were going to decide with you, but like you said, we had to leave quickly."

Zuko sighed, "You don't have any idea where we could possibly go then?"

Katara thought hard, "Maybe," She said, an idea popping into her head, "I remember Aang telling me he was getting visions to go to see Roku at the Fire Sage temple, like last time. Has the winter solstice passed yet?"

"No," Zuko said, "It's in three days though, but you can't seriously expect us to go there. I'm banished, remember? Going there is just asking for trouble, plus we're not sure if Aang is even going to show up there or not."

"It's the only lead we have right now." Katara said firmly, "Unless if you have any bright ideas."

Zuko grumbled, "Fine, we're just lucky that we're within three days distance from the temple."

With that settled, Zuko began to wrap bandages around her wound again, and soon after he grabbed Iroh's robe to put back on her. Katara noted the motion, and with her help, he slid it back on her, and she was able to lie down on her back again. She let out a sigh, and grinned as Zuko brought the blanket up to her shoulders, "Are you my personal slave now?"

"No."

Katara pouted, "That's no fun."

"Get over it."

Katara let out a small chuckle, "I'm just kidding Zuko."

"I know. Now get to sleep. You need to rest still."

Katara didn't argue the point, feeling a little sleepy herself, "Ok, but don't forget. We need to get to the Fire Temple, then we can see Aang again." At the thought of Aang she slowly fell asleep, and Zuko let out a sigh as he stood up and went to leave the room. He looked back at her to be sure that she was asleep. Satisfied, he turned and left the room, fully intent on finding his uncle, and letting his crew know about their new directions.

He walked through the steel halls of the ship, the lanterns casting ghostly shadows all across the area. It had originally disturbed him when he first came back to the past, not being used to the environment of the metal monstrosity he was on, however, since the merge, he had lost his tense nature around the ship, and now was able to walk through it with ease. He knew the ship like the back of his hand now, every nook and cranny, and it bugged him.

Not bugged, that isn't a strong enough word. He didn't like not knowing who he was. Katara had told him to man up and accept, in lay mans terms anyway, but even then could he really accept that he was now a completely different person? He was glad that he saved himself in the black void, _No, my past self. _He reminded himself. It was getting harder and harder to pin point which self's personality was slipping through now.

Did he really need to be organized though?

"I need to stop thinking about this. Katara's right, I'm just being a drama queen." Pushing the thoughts aside, he walked up a set of stairs to reach the bridge of the ship. Opening a door, he walked in, forcing to be cool and collected. _One of the perks of the merge is that I don't have to act in front of these guys anymore, the past self of my mind knows how to deal with these guys more than my future self ever could. _

"Men, change course to the Fire Sage Temple in the Fire Nation." All the men stopped what they were doing when they looked back at him, "What are you waiting for? The girl told me that is where they might be heading! I am not going to lose my lead on the Avatar because of my banishment!"

"But sir, you could get into serious trouble if you're caught..."

"It doesn't matter." Zuko said, "We're going one way or another."

His men looked reluctant, but disobeying Zuko was something they didn't want to risk doing. After a small moment, the man steering the ship turned to him, "Very well Prince Zuko, we'll go there immediately."

"Good, be sure to make it there in three days."

His crew nodded, and with that he left the bridge in search of his uncle. It didn't take long before he saw his uncle drinking some tea in the wreck room, and thankfully there were very few other men in the room. Zuko crossed the room, and sat across from his uncle, and just stayed silent as his uncle continued to drink his tea.

"Hello Prince Zuko." His uncle finally said, "How may I help you?"

"Uncle, something happened, and I need to talk to you about it, alone."

"Oh?" His uncle mumbled.

"Yes, it's very important."

"Does it involve the Water Tribe girl?"

"No. Speaking of her though, she woke up earlier and we talked, about the thing I need to tell you about." Zuko said looking straight at his uncle.

"Very well, let us go in my room." Iroh said, standing up and stretching a little bit. Zuko followed his uncle to his room, and right when Zuko closed the door behind him, and let out a sigh, "Uncle, about what you said to me the last time we talked..."

Iroh nodded, feeling slightly guilty for not having spoken to his nephew for about a week now, "What of it?"

"After that talk, I went to sleep, and I met myself." He paused, "I met younger me, the one you were talking about. We talked about a lot of things, and then after that we merged." Zuko summarized quickly.

"You merged with your past self?" Iroh said, raising an eyebrow as he sat on his bed. Zuko deciding to just lean on the wall instead.

"Yes."

"That is great news then - you're part of your past self and your future self." Iroh said, "I'm glad - I was worried that you ended my other nephew's life coming back."

"I keep thinking about it. I know it was right for us to merge, but now I can't determine who I am anymore! Before I was certain that I was good, helping the Avatar, there were no doubts in my mind, my future self's mind. Now, I have doubts about that! I feel like I can still gain my father's affections if I take Aang and give him to the Fire Lord! It makes me sick just thinking about it! I know it's wrong, and I knew it was wrong before the entire merge!"

"It's all right Zuko to feel how you do. You must remember you're no longer your future self, you're one entity now. So all the feelings of both of you have been mixed together."

"Yeah," Zuko said, "But I don't like it. I have all this doubt building within me now. Am I doing the right thing? Should I be helping the Avatar?" He let out a groan and began to pace, "I need your advice uncle, what should I do."

"Zuko, you're making a much bigger deal out of this than it truly is. Just look within yourself, and you will find your answers. You already told me what you want to do."

"When?" Zuko spun towards his uncle, "I don't want to hurt my friends!"

"You won't Zuko!" Iroh said sternly, "You act as though all that doubt and feelings within you will possess you and make you choose what you don't wish to do! Zuko, you're your own person. It's normal to have those feelings, just think, before the merge, you must have told your past self everything about yourself right?"

"Yes, I did."

"Don't you think it's hard to accept all of that? He was merely a child, wishing to regain his father's love by capturing the Avatar. Then the future self came, and told him everything he knew was wrong, and that he was friends with the Avatar."

"I see." Zuko said.

"I feel that if you were to meet the Avatar in person now, your doubts would go away. Half of you has not even talked to the boy, so when you do, I feel your doubts will fade away, and you will realize what it is you must do. Also, don't you realize that the Avatar trusts you fully? To leave her behind like that, I feel that it is not an easy task for him."

"It's even worse than you think, they love each other." Zuko muttered.

"Then you must realize you have the full trust of the Avatar, Zuko. You know what is right, and what must be done."

And like that, his doubt began to fade away, and in its place, he began to feel really stupid. "Thank you for talking to me uncle." He said, hugging the man tightly.

"It's no problem Zuko." Iroh said, holding his nephew.

As soon as they parted, Zuko bowed down to show his respect, "I will be back in my room watching over Katara."

"Hm, can you wash her for me then?" Iroh said.

"U- Uncle!" Zuko shouted, "No! She's woke up! Can't she do it herself?"

"She is badly hurt Zuko," Iroh said, but he was laughing ,"But I will continue do it if you insist!"

Zuko allowed his still beating heart to slow down, and when he was sure he could speak again, he turned to his uncle, "She is a Waterbender - our group healer in fact, when she wakes up again, do you think it would be wise to have her try to heal herself?"

"If possible, maybe a little bit." Iroh said nodding, "But you mustn't push her to do this. If she can't sit up, don't bother trying to have her do it."

"All right."

The two continued to walk down the hall towards his room, when his uncle turned to him, "Zuko, I have been hearing a ridiculous rumor that you ordered the crew to take us into the Fire Nation, where would they possibly get an idea like that?"

Zuko stopped in place, not even considering how his uncle would take the news, "Well, there's a funny story about that," Zuko said, "Truth is, we are."

**Chapter nine - End**

A/N - I saw the movie, and it's bad. Really bad. Actually, bad is being too nice. This piece of crap is garbage. I went into the theaters with low expectations, however, I came out with my expectations blown out of the water, in the opposite direction. This was worse than I thought it would be. Here's a short story for you guys to enjoy, don't worry it doesn't contain too many spoilers for the movie, if for some reason you actually do want to see it:

Team Avatar walked out of the theater, none of them were joyously laughing, or making any attempt to talk about the movie they had just seen. It was completely quiet until Katara finally broke it with a groan of annoyance, "Argh, I was so useless in that movie!"

"What? At least you did SOMETHING! I got, what? TEN LINES?" Sokka shouted at his little sister.

"You two have no right to complain one bit!" Suki huffed, "I was cut out of the movie!"

"What are you guys talking about? I thought it was awesome!" Toph exclaimed, "Hands down the best comedy of the year!"

"I dunno, I kinda liked it too." Aang said from Katara's side, she glared at him, and he quickly added, "A little character development would have been nice too! By the time we got to the North Pole it was like we didn't even know each other." She smiled at the criticism.

Zuko looked at the group, and tried to think of something, but just sighed, "At least I was played by one of the only good actors in the movie..."

"That's not saying much. He was still about as stiff as everything else." Katara sighed, "I wish my actress would have, you know, acted a little bit."

"To be fair, I think it was the directors fault." Sokka said, "He was the one who allowed all of that to pass. Any competent director would have redone the shot, but not here. No, he allowed his ego to get in the way, and took advantage of the built in fan base!"

"I guess it was a good thing I wasn't in it," Suki said after a moment of thought, "Especially considering how badly Haru was butchered."

"Where did he go anyway?" Aang asked, "I saw him in the theater, but now I can't find him at all!"

"He's out in the streets destroying everything he finds."

"Oh wow," Aang mumbled, "Do you think we should stop him?"

Toph shrugged, "After the way the movie portrayed him, he has a legit excuse to tell the Omashu guards."

"Teo left after seeing how the Northern Air Temple was portrayed." Zuko said, "I saw him begging his father to get him out of there."

"I wish I left when he did." Katara mumbled darkly.

"Well, at least it looked good." Sokka decided, "The special effects were occasionally really cool, the costumes were fun, the music was nice, and the landscapes were at some times amazing to look at!"

"That doesn't excuse the horrible story, the horrible acting, the horrible pacing, and-" Suki paused to take a breath, "I think I will just stop there."

They had walked outside, and they let out a heartfelt sigh of depression.

"So, who's up for kicking some Fire Nation butt after all that?" Toph asked. There were no objections, and soon the group was heading straight for the Fire Lord, not caring how heavily guarded he was, or what the possibly chances of failure was. All that was on their mind was getting that god-awful movie out of their heads.

A/N - So that's all. The story is discontinuity, cause it makes no sense in any context, similar to the movie. GOD I HATED IT! ARRRGGGHHH!


	11. Chapter 10

A/N – This chapter was hard to write because I just was not into it at all. I feel like I probably just could have skipped this, and had a character say they did it, but I decided to write it out. Most of it is filler, but it does have an important character in it, who'll be obvious once you read it. If this chapter seems rushed, it's because it probably was. I just wanted to get it over with to get to the next chapter, which is _not_ mostly filler.

Also, starting from this point on, I would like to thank KageOkami-Kogo for helping me understand the woman's psyche a little more! Her influence doesn't really appear in this chapter that much, but after chapter 12 it should begin to appear more often.

That's all, enjoy!

**Chapter ten**

"It's getting late," Sokka said, looking up at the darkening sky, "We should find a place to sleep for tonight. We've been flying for hours."

Aang nodded along, "All right." He said, slowly lowering Appa down a little so the group of four could begin to search the forest they were flying above. Off in the distance, with the remaining sunlight, they could spot a small town, and from what they could see, it looked to be a town taken over by the Fire Nation. Aang sighed upon the sight of it, an otherwise peaceful looking place blemished by the Fire Nation, as usual.

"There's a small clearing we can go right there." Suki said, pointing out the spot. Aang looked down below, and noted the spot she had pointed out. He flew forward a bit more, before pulling on Appa's reins and turning the bison around. Appa grunted at the pull, but otherwise showed no objection.

Toph was in the back leaning against the saddle, Momo in her lap. She was very relaxed, with both of her hands behind her head, "Ready for me to beat the crap out of you tonight Aang?"

Aang looked back, "Yeah, I guess so." He mumbled.

Everyone didn't say anything, knowing that he was still sore about leaving Katara behind. Sokka and Suki shared a look, and Suki nodded towards Sokka, who let out a soft sigh as he went up to the front of the bison where Aang was sitting, "hey, Aang, you feeling all right?"

"As fine as I can be right now."

"Well, after a small work out you should feel better!" Toph shouted from the back, making Sokka roll his eyes.

Sokka was about to say something more, but with a sudden lurch in his stomach, the bison began to do a sharp descend. It had taken him quite a while to get used to the feeling of the bison going up or down like that, and he hated how it felt every time. Swallowing down his nausea, Sokka looked down at the ground as they continued to lower.

"We're here." Aang announced once they were in the forest.

Sokka sighed, knowing Aang was intentionally avoiding the subject with him, "Fine. We'll stay for the night. Tomorrow we need to keep flying. I think we should get to the mechanist as soon as possible. He's important to the war effort, and the sooner we get him to stop working for the Fire Nation and helping us, the better we'll all be off."

"Yeah," Suki said, "I would rather not have to deal with those airships again."

Aang couldn't stand the thought of those metal monstrosities, "If we don't give the Fire Nation that technology, it will really help us out, especially during the invasion."

Sokka nodded, "Exactly. It will take out a factor of the battle, so we won't have to worry about it." He then jumped off Appa with his sleeping bag, "Come on, you should really get to sleep Aang."

Aang nodded, "I know, you've been telling me that for the past three days." He frowned at that, remembering that it had been over a week since he last saw Katara. In fact, today was the Winter Solstice. He sighed at the thought; the group had decided not to go into the Fire Nation, not wanting to risk losing another person to the enemy. After all, Aang knew exactly what it was that Roku wanted to tell him, so why waste time doing that?

He still felt that it was a horrible idea to not do it, visions of the comet Roku was sending him kept him awake every night, and the guilt from not going would keep him awake for many more nights to come. Maybe the spirits had known that he came to the past? It wouldn't matter, his connection to the spirit world was almost completely gone, he wasn't even sure if he would have been able to contact Roku in the chamber.

However, he knew that deep inside of himself, he would have been able to do so. Regret filled him, and for a moment, he wished that he had gone to see Roku, to confide in someone about what was going on, but it was no use. He let out a sigh, remembering that being an Avatar required that he felt no guilt. He then tried to let it go, but even so, it still haunted him.

"Aang? Aang!" Toph was shouting into his ear. Aang was brought out of his thoughts at her voice, and looked over at her.

"What?"

"You were ignoring me!" She shouted, "We're going to train now! Are you ready?"

Aang nodded, realizing that he was getting lost in his thoughts, "Yeah, I'm ready." He Airbended down from Appa, and landed neatly next to Toph, "Where are we going to train?"

"There are a lot of trees here," Toph said, stating the blatantly obvious, "But that will provide a challenge for both of us! Use them as cover, or whatever. We'll go a little ways from camp so we don't do any damage to our fragile friends.

"Hey, I resent being called fragile!" Sokka said, "I can take a rock to the chest!"

Toph considered taking him up on that, but she waved it off, "Sure, whatever. Come on Aang, let's go train!"

Aang followed Toph, leaving Sokka and Suki alone to tend to the camp. They were both quiet as they set up the sleeping bags, and dug out a fire pit, before starting the fire, and cooking some of the food they had caught. The two were sitting side by side, looking into the fire as they cooked the group's dinner for the night – more fish.

"You should've said something to Aang." Suki said.

"I know." Sokka moaned, "It's just, I don't want to pry into his business. I know he's sad about Katara missing, I'm sad about it too, but he just keeps evading me whenever I want to help him with it."

Suki nodded, "So I noticed. I will try to talk to him then."

"What will you talk about?"

"I don't know." Suki answered, "I'll try talking to him later on about it."

"Good." Sokka said, "I'm just glad that Aang is not being like me about this."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you went missing, I screwed up." He admitted, "I just stopped talking to people, stopping eating, and I just stopped… living I guess. I was depressed. Aang though, he doesn't allow himself to get like that. Something horrible happened to him, he lost his most important person, and he still keeps moving. He's a lot stronger than anyone ever gives him credit for."

"Yeah, he is." Suki said, making sure the fish was cooking right, "Well, want to train a little bit before the fish is done?"

"Sure." Sokka said, pulling the sword from his back. He had been back a month already, and he could begin to feel a difference from all the training he had done. Whereas a month ago the blade was really heavy, the weight was beginning to feel less than it really was. He could swing it more effectively, and he was improving much more overall.

That's not to say no one else was improving of course. Suki was well on her way to regaining the amazing agility she had in the other life, able to dodge or parry any attack with ease now, especially with her much more powerful fans. Aang and Toph were both also improving at a steady rate; both of their bodies could handle a more intense workout before become exhausted.

They were all a far cry from their physical condition from the future, given that they had been back for only a month, but they were definitely on their way to getting there.

The training lasted only a few hours, and soon they were off to bed, gathered around the small campfire that was made. Toph had made her rock tent a little bit away, and Aang of course was off on Appa, attempting to get to sleep. The boy let out a sigh as he rolled onto his side, this happened to him every night. He would toss and turn, feel the need to watch, crush the need, toss and turn some more, and finally fall into a restless sleep. The current phase he was in was him watching his friends, making sure no one would attack them.

He smacked his head, _No one will attack! Go back to sleep! _He yelled in his mind, and he leaned back onto the bison. He closed his eyes attempting to sleep, when he suddenly heard a sound.

He sat up immediately, and looked around not bothering to hide his panic. He reached to his staff which he had at his sides at all time and jumped off Appa, and wandered towards the campfire where his friends were sleeping. He held his breath, so he would not make a sound. Suddenly there was a shout, and Aang looked over to see a Fire Nation soldier flying through the air, and landing on the ground in a heap.

"What?" Aang mumbled, seeing the display.

The rock tent surrounding Toph fell apart, and the girl walked out of it, "We're being attacked." She stated calmly.

The commotion made Sokka and Suki open their eyes, and upon seeing Toph and Aang stand overhead, both looking ready for a fight, they jumped to the logical conclusion. Both of them burst from their sleeping bags, and grabbed their weapons that they didn't keep far from their bodies at any time.

"We've been discovered." Someone said from the brush, and Aang turned towards the voice and shot it with a blast of wind. It sent several men flying, and the others, apparently deciding that hiding was not doing them any good, charged out and began to fight. Team Avatar was clearly outnumbered, there were two dozen men surrounding them, but that wasn't really a problem for them, not with their abilities.

Right when the Fire Nation men were about to go forward to commence the attack, several arrows shot out from the tree, pinning several of the men down. Confusion only lasted briefly, and the kids watched as from the trees half a dozen others came to their aid. Aang immediately recognized the children coming to their aid, and he smiled brightly upon seeing who it was.

Sokka was the complete opposite. He didn't have a grudge against the guy, nor the group of children who had come saved them, not after the way he helped them in their other life, but if he was here, that meant their life was beginning to align to the same events as the last time. Sokka swallowed the fear down, but even then it was still popping back up into his mind, _Is everything just going to repeat itself? _He wondered.

The true fight began, though it was incredibly one sided. Combined with the forces of the kids who 'rescued' them, Team Avatar easily was able to mop up the men attacking them. During the fight, Sokka makes sure not to let Jet steal the spotlight from him, something he distinctly remembered from the last life.

Also, he was doing it because it was becoming rather obvious that Jet was getting a little _too _comfortable with his wife – future wife.

"Hey there, who're you?" Jet asked as he easily took out some men Suki was handling fine on her own.

"Suki, and who are you?" She asked back, rather amused by the kid.

"You can call me Jet." He answered with a wink.

Suki had to try her hardest not to laugh at his attempts to hit on her, she turned away to fight a few other men so Jet wouldn't see her face crack into a snickering mess. She then noticed Sokka glaring at the boy, and she had to force herself not to roll her eyes. She had been with him for almost twelve years now, seriously, did he not trust her? Deciding to infuriate Sokka some more, she went over and started to fight alongside Jet, allowing the boy to compliment her and admire her at the same time.

Sokka watched, and slowly his mind came to the realization that she was doing that on purpose. His glare shifted gears and turned towards Suki. _Ok, what does that kid have that I don't have? _Sokka examined Jet over a few times, _Nothing that I can see _Was his assessment. This would not do, he would not let his wife play tricks on him like this! No, he had to prove he was better!

Unfortunately for him, he fell right in the trap Suki had so elaborately planted, and she went off to a different part of the small field of battle so she could laugh it off.

Soon the fighting was over, and the two groups who fought with one another met with each other in the middle of the clearing next to the charring fire pit. They eyed each other wryly, but it soon ended when Jet spoke, "You guys did good back there, you're lucky we were able to come help."

"Yeah, lucky." Toph mumbled.

"We're the Freedom Fighters." Jet said carrying on like he hadn't heard anything, he turned towards his companions, "This is Longshot," He was a tall kid using a bow and arrow, "Smellerbee," A small girl, who was difficult to tell the gender of, "The Duke," A small kid, not even ten years of age, "And this is pipsqueak." His name was misleading; he was a giant of a kid, easily the biggest of everyone there.

"And who're you." Aang asked.

"I'm Jet, their leader." He grabbed a piece of hay and put it in his mouth, "So who're you guys?"

"I'm the Avatar." Aang said bowing down to Jet, "And these are my friends, Sokka, Toph, and Suki." Each of them waved back, some more reluctant than others.

"Suki, eh?" Jet said, "That's a nice name."

"Yeah, it is." Sokka said, standing next to Suki and wrapping his arm around her shoulder, glaring at the boy in front of him. Jet immediately got the gesture and laughed a little.

"Don't worry; I wasn't trying to take her away from you."

"I'm sure." Sokka replied blandly.

"The Avatar though?" Jet said, changing the subject, "I heard you were coming, I never imagined I would get to meet you. Want to come hang out at our place for the night?"

"Sure." Aang answered, "But what were you doing out here so late?"

"We were following that Fire Nation patrol all day, you guys gave us the perfect opening to go in and take them out, thanks for that by the way."

"No problem." Aang said, allowing a light smile on his face, "So where is your place?"

"Just ahead, now come on." Jet said, and watched as the kids went and put their supplies on top of the giant creature they had. Jet was shocked by it, but didn't allow it to show. Once they were fully packed, Jet allowed them to follow him back to his base of operations, the rest of the Freedom Fighters right behind him. The walk was quiet, and thankfully brief – less than ten minutes. Jet led them over to a rope, which he showed to them rest, "Just pull on it and it will send you up into the tree." He explained.

Longshot and Smellerbee went up first, just to demonstrate it to the others.

"Wow, I can't wait to try this!" Aang said, grabbing a robe and tugging on it. He suddenly went up laughing the entire way.

"He's in a really good mood right now." Sokka said, watching Aang fly up the tree.

"You guys go along and have fun up in your trees." Toph said, "I think I will stay down here."

"Aw, how come?" Suki asked.

"It's in the trees, made of wood. It's not earth, I can't see through it very well. I would rather stay on the ground."

"Ok, you stay and guard Appa then." Sokka said, walking toward the rope, and holding his hand out for Suki, "Coming?"

"She went with Jet a few seconds ago," Toph answered him.

Sokka could feel his eye twitching. _Two can play this game! _He decided, "Hey Toph, are there any pretty girls around?"

"How would I know?"

"Can't you feel them?"

"How would I be able to tell if they're pretty?"

"I dunno, sixth sense?"

"Get out of here."

"Fine." Sokka grumbled, grabbing the rope and heading up himself. Leaving Toph down by herself on the forest floor. She went over and leaned on Appa, intended to relax. The other Freedom Fighters still down there shrugged and went on their way, leaving her completely alone in solitude.

That was until Momo flew down by her and began to speak to her in his various assortments of squeaks, grunts, and growls.

"What do you want?"

The flying lemur hit her in the head and started to chatter again.

"What?" She shouted, "Go do whatever it is you want! I can't help you!"

Momo finally resorted to jumping on her head a lot while practically screaming. Toph finally got off of Appa, and turned toward Momo, "What do you want!"

Momo looked her in the eyes, wondering why her back was turned to him, before he began to fly in the other direction. Seeing that Toph wasn't following, he made noise, and she turned around towards him.

"You're really beginning to annoy me!"

Momo flew over by her legs, and pulled on them, forcing her to go forward; she let out a sigh as she followed Momo in any form of noise he made, or if she could feel him treading on the ground. Eventually Momo stopped and started to make a lot of noise again.

"Ok, I'm here, now what."

"Hello, little girl!"

Toph immediately got on guard, "Where are you!"

"Up here!" He said, "I'm trapped in this cage!"

Toph groaned, "You're suspended in the air, aren't you."

"Yeah," He said, "Can't you see?"

"No." She answered flatly.

"What?"

"I'm blind." She explained, "What's the cage like?"

"It's weird and round, and I stepped on it, and suddenly I felt myself flying up into the air and now I'm stuck in it! If you could go to the town and get some help for me, I would be grateful!"

"You're part of the Fire Nation then." Toph said.

"Well, yes, I'm a colonist." He said, "I don't fight in the war or anything."

Toph sighed, remembering all the propaganda the Fire Nation civilians were fed about the war, she couldn't blame him for the crimes and atrocities his nation produced. She stomped on the ground, and felt the vibrations around her, unfortunately, he was obviously suspended by a tree, and she let out a groan, out of all of them though, she had no clue, she could feel hundreds of roots, and her vibrations didn't travel well up them, so she had to do this the old fashioned way.

"Can you keep talking?" She called up.

"Uh, about what exactly?"

"Anything." Toph said, going to a spot where she was sure she was under him.

"Well, your monkey is quite an amazing creature, any chance that I can buy him once I get out of here? I think my daughter would love to play with him!"

"Sorry, he's not mine. He's my friend." She said, trying to pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from.

"Oh, that's unfortunate. Do you think he'd be willing to-"

"No. I know for a fact that he wouldn't be willing to sell him, his name is Momo by the way."

The lemur was currently crawling around the forest ground, trying to find something to eat, if Toph had to guess.

"So why are you in a tree?" She asked.

"Earlier today I was walking in the forest for my morning walk – usually I do it around the outside of the forest, but today I decided to be a little more daring and try to go and walk inside the place. I have heard rumors of the children here who fight the Fire Nation – awful little demons they are! They trapped me in here, and now I have been stuck for hours without anyone to talk to – wait, are you one of them?"

"No." She sighed, wishing she hadn't told him to begin talking, "But I'm coming up to get you now."

"Oh? How are you going to do that?"

She stood in a spot where she was certain she would be able to reach him if she made a pillar of earth go straight up, and immediately she bended the ground beneath her, giving enough room for her and for the man when she got him out of the cage.

"You're an Earthbender!" The man said in surprise, "So you're an enemy of my nation!"

"Hey, I'm freeing you. I have no hard feelings towards you."

"Good point I guess." He mumbled, "And I must thank you, and I apologize for my earlier outburst."

Toph rolled her eyes, _this guy is so weird. _Once she was level with the cage she easily bended it open, considering the cage was made out of metal. The man inside was amazed, and was about to speak his amazement, but Toph stopped him, "You didn't see anything, got it?"

"Oh, yes, of course." The man got out of the cage, and Toph lowered the rock pillar down to the ground. The man wore red clothes, obviously a fan of his nation, and from what Toph could tell he was pretty tall and slim. His story about running seem to check out as far as she was concerned.

"Go back to your village now, I doubt those little 'demons' would like it very much if they found out that you went missing."

"Yes. Thank you again kind Earthbender." The man bowed to her, and quickly high tailed it out of there.

Momo came back over to her carrying a large assortment of berries and a few other fruit, Toph glanced down at the animal who was offering some of it to her, so she shrugged and picked some, "you're not so bad." She decided, and the two walked back toward Appa.

Up in the tree house built across multiple trees, one in the center was where everyone was gathered. There were dozens of children around in the large room, and in the middle was a large table where Jet sat at the head, the other freedom fighters that were with him on the mission sat there with him as well. He gestured for his three guests to come forth and join him, and not wanting to be rude, they did.

It was late, probably a few hours pass midnight, yet these children were up and active, running around, laughing, and eating, and it truthfully confused Sokka, who looked around with his mouth hung open slightly, "Don't you guys sleep?" He asked turning to Jet.

"Yeah, we're usually sleeping before this, I guess everyone was just wondering where we were." Jet said shrugging, "We always celebrate when we defeat the Fire Nation like that."

Sokka nodded, "I guess that makes sense, but they'll just go back to the village and send more people here later on."

"Not for long." Jet said under his breath, not allowing anyone else to hear him, he then smiled, "So what brings the Avatar here?"

Aang looked up from the food he was shoving into his mouth, "We were just staying the night in the forest after a long day of travel." He said, gulping down the remaining food.

"Where are you going?"

"Heading up North," He said, "To the Northern Air Temple."

"Why?"

"We hear there's people up there would could help us invade the Fire Nation." Aang said truthfully, watching intently for Jet's reaction.

Jet blinked a few times, "Invade the Fire Nation?" He asked, making sure he had heard correctly.

"We found out the day that they will be very weak, and we plan to attack them on that day." Aang explained, "It's in the summer though, so right now we're gathering as many people as we can for the invasion."

"Who have you gathered so far?" Jet asked, leaning forward, immensely interested in the direction the conversation was heading.

"We've got Omashu and another group of Earthbenders willing to come with us." Aang said.

"The Kyoshi Warriors too." Suki added in.

"And the Kyoshi Warriors." Aang added.

"You already have a city willing to invade with you?" Jet said in shock, "Why don't you go now?"

"Because invading now would result in a high number of casualties," Aang sighed, "We need to wait for the day the eclipse will happen."

"What happens on that day?"

"The Firebenders won't be able to bend." Sokka answered, with a large smile, "That is when we'll attack."

"So it will be a full day?" Jet asked, in awe, "That is amazing!"

"No," Suki sighed, "Not a full day, just about eight minutes."

"Eight minutes..." Jet leaned back into his chair, "What can be accomplished in eight minutes?"

"A lot of things." Sokka said, "The plan is to attack before the eclipse, and then during it we press our advantage, go into the capital, and have Aang fight the Fire Lord."

Aang let out a nervous laugh out there, "Yeah..."

"That's amazing." Jet sighed, "You guys are making real progress."

"Every last person helps," Aang said carefully, again eyeing Jet.

"I wonder, would my Freedom Fighters be good enough to help you guys out?"

_Yes! _Aang said in his mind, trying hard not to let his face show any emotion at that declaration, "Some of you can come, but a lot of the younger ones will have to stay here. This is a war, and we don't want them to go onto a real battlefield."

Jet looked thoughtful, before allowing a smile on his face, "All right, my fighters will join you." Jet said, "If it's alright with you." He said.

"I would be pleased to have you come with us." Aang said.

"Good." Jet said, looking thoughtful as he began to eat the food in front of him.

Within the hour almost everyone in the tree house was asleep, it was still early morning, and the sky was still dark, though off in the distance the first signs of light were beginning to show.

Aang watched the display, leaning on the railings of the tree house. He leaned over, as if expecting someone there to support him up, but he almost slipped and fell to the floor. He quickly regained his balance, and let out a sigh, "I miss you Katara..." He mumbled.

"What are you doing up still? You should get some sleep." Aang turned around to see Suki walking towards him.

"I know." Aang said, "I'm just not tired."

"You are thinking about Katara again." She asked.

Aang sighed, giving Suki the answer she wanted to know.

"You know, I understand how you feel," She said, leaning the rail next to him, looking at the sky, the half moon beginning to go out of their vision due to the overlapping trees all around them.

"Do you?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just lost my home to the Fire Nation a few weeks ago." She answered.

Aang immediately, began to sputtered, "I- I didn't - I'm sorry."

"No reason to be." She said, patting him on the back, "I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk about what you're going through, you can talk to me. I know exactly how you feel."

"I feel guilty," He answered truthfully, "I was having so much fun just annoying Zhao, and goading him to attack me, that I didn't even consider the chance that he would hurt her." He groaned, "I'm so stupid..."

"No you're not Aang. You didn't expect it to happen, none of us considered it. If anything I was at fault for not getting her out of the way."

"No you're not at fault!" Aang snarled at her, "You were busy fighting a huge group of guys; it was just me and Zhao! I could have deflected it, blown it away, or anything if I had just been taking him more seriously! I underestimated him, and I paid the full price! I don't know if Katara is ok right now, she looked bad." He hid his face from her as he tried his best not to cry in frustration and grief.

"It's not your fault," Suki attempted to comfort him.

"Yes it is." He mumbled.

"So," She said, thinking desperately for something to say, "You going to run away from us again then?" She said jokingly.

Aang looked up at her, "Leave the jokes to Sokka."

She nodded dejectedly, "Right."

The two then sat in a very awkward silence for a few minutes. Neither said anything, Aang too busy brooding, while Suki was thinking about what to say. As the silence wore on she pushed off against the rails to stand up straight. Aang looked back at her, wondering what she was going to do.

"Look Aang. Like I said, I know how you feel. I lost my entire family to the Fire Nation. I know the guilt you're feeling, the grief, loss, and so many other feelings. I know you must hate yourself right now; I did for a little while once I was with you guys, but Sokka and I talked a lot. So I will tell you what he told me: Get over it."

"Get over it?" Aang asked, surprised by the statement.

"I slapped him when he said it," She admitted, laughing slightly, "But he did explain: Get over worrying about the bad things that could happen, and think about the positive. He told me that it was the one thing he did not do, and it led to him being like how he was towards you guys."

Aang remembered that well enough, "Think of the positives?"

"Right, for instance. Kyoshi Island is a small island worth no valve to the Fire Nation. They might be occupying it, but I don't think they would imprison the people there, or try anything else. My friends, the people I consider family, are safe there."

"What if something wrong happens or-"

"You're thinking of the bad," She chided lightly, "Only good thoughts."

"Good?" Aang looked flabbergasted at the prospect, "What could possibly be good about Katara being hurt?"

"Zuko was there." She reminded him.

"I know that!" Aang said, "But how is that good?"

"It's easier to accept that than it is to accept that the Fire Nation has taken over your village." She sighed, "Look Aang, Zuko knows how much she means to you, he knows how much she means to all of us, and he knows how important she is. Do you think Zuko is going to hold back on Zhao to get her to go with him? Do you really believe Zuko would just let Zhao take her away?"

"No." Aang mumbled, beginning to feel bad for doubting Zuko so much.

"Exactly! He will do anything in his power to get her. We know him; we traveled with him for years. There is no way right now Zhao has Katara."

"But-"

"No way." She said sternly, cutting off Aang's protest, "She is safe; Zuko took her in, and is taking good care of her."

"How can you think like that?" He asked, "There are so many things that could have gone wrong!"

"There's nothing you can do about it," She whispered, finally leaning back down next to him, looking him straight in the face, "Do you understand?"

Aang was quiet as he stared into her eyes for a few minutes, and finally looked away, "You're right..."

"Good, now, come on Aang. Come get a few hours of sleep at least. You haven't gotten a good night's rest in quite a few days it looks like."

"For over a week," He admitted, "Since we lost Katara. She always stays up with me at night, and is one of the only things that helps me get to sleep without any trouble." Aang hadn't told anyone that.

"I see." She sighed.

"You go on," He said, "I know what has to be done tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"I will give Jet two choices. Either join us for the invasion, or to do destroy this village. I'm positive he'll ask us to help him do some things tomorrow to try and destroy the village. He won't say it outright, but just go along with it for now."

"You want me to fall for his undeniable charm then?" She asked, causing Aang to smile.

"If you could, that would be wonderful." He said, "Just don't let Sokka know. I want Jet to help us with the invasion, not to be crippled for the rest of his life."

Suki laughed, "Ok Aang. I'll be sure to tell Sokka that, what about Toph?"

"Don't worry; I'll take to her in a few more hours." Aang said.

With that, Suki parted from Aang, but not before turning around and giving the boy a hug, "You need this." She whispered to him before they parted. As she walked away, Aang allowed himself to feel relaxed, and he smiled knowing he had great friends who would be willing to lift him back up onto his feet when he was on the ground battered and nearly broken. He had renewed hope for Katara, and allowed himself to place all of his trust in Zuko.

_Don't let her die Zuko... _He thought to himself before he opened up his glider to go down to the forest ground.

Sokka was invited to go out scouting with Jet the next morning, and so he did. During the time he was gone, Aang, Suki, and Toph all met below the trees, on the forest floor. They stood near Appa, and spoke in whispers just in case if any of Jet's friends were spying on them. They didn't think it was the case, but they stayed cautious, something that has saved them more than once in the future.

Toph just got done telling the other two about the villager she saved, and Aang nodded along. Suki then explained that Jet told her that morning before the rest of the people got up, that he planned to eradicate the Fire Nation from the valley forever.

"He plans to flood the village." Aang explained, "He's going to want me to bend water to flood the village, and is going to do anything he can to keep you two away so you won't have to see the 'costs' of war as he calls it, or as I like to call it, genocide."

Suki looked uncomfortable, "Why do we want someone like him to join us?"

"Because he ends up not being such a bad guy, he helped Toph and I back in Ba Sing Se, and he paid the ultimate price for it."

"Yeah," Toph said, "The least we can do is make sure he gets on the right path this time."

"All right, if you say so. What's the plan?"

"We're going to try and convince Jet to stop this." Aang said, "We can't let him know we know ahead of time though, so I 'm going to go ahead and begin to bend water for him. Suki, I want you to 'find out' as soon as you possibly can, and Toph, I want you to go warn the villagers in a few hours."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Suki asked.

"Yeah, if it goes like how it did last time, it should."

"What's Sokka's part in all of this?" Toph asked.

"He'll figure something out." Aang shrugged, "just explain everything to him if he catches one of you off guard."

"Sounds good!" Toph said cracking her knuckles, "I'm going to practice acting like a little harmless blind girl so the village will believe me better." She walked off.

Suki watched her with a raised eyebrow before sighing, "Ok, so when's Jet and Sokka getting here?"

Aang shrugged, "Pretty soon I think."

Out in the forest, Sokka and Jet, along with a small band of other fights were scouting, when an old man wandered the forest. Sokka watched the scene as it practically replayed the same way as his previous life time. He fulfilled his role perfectly, and soon he was down on the ground, watching Jet harass the old man. He blinked a few times, allowing his mind to stop racing with the implications of what it meant that things were repeating exactly alike, and forced himself to speak.

"Stop that!" Sokka said, "He's an innocent old man, what are you doing?"

"He's part of the Fire Nation!" Jet said, as if that was reason enough.

"And that's reason enough to pick on an old man?" Sokka asked, "Do you truly think this will accomplish anything except make people in the village dislike you even more?"

"I know what I'm doing Sokka!" Jet countered, "All people of the Fire Nation must be hunted…" He said with an evil glint in his eye as he looked up the scared old man in front of him.

"That's not stopping the Fire Nation, it's being bullies!"

"Being bullies to people who deserve it! Why can't you see that Sokka?" Jet turned towards the kid, "You have fought the Fire Nation, and you've seen what they have done to everything in their path. They intend to destroy the world."

"I have seen the horrors that they have committed," Sokka said, trying not to think of them, "But that doesn't mean we can punish this man. He isn't part of the Fire Nation trying to destroy the Earth Kingdom; he's just a harmless old man."

"All of them deserve no mercy! Especially not after they killed my parents…" He whispered the last part harshly.

"They killed my mom too, and my dad went away to fight them. I haven't seen him for years, and I can't even remember my mother now. You just have to get over it, it's how the Fire Nation fight, and if we sink to their level, hurt their civilians, or kill them, does that make us any better than them?"

Sokka watched, hoping he had cracked the shell Jet had built around him on this particular subject, but let out a sigh when Jet shook his head and knocked the old man down to the ground, "You say you've seen the 'horrors' they have committed." Jet muttered darkly, walking pass him, "That's a load, you would agree with me if you have actually seen what they can do."

Something deep within Sokka snapped, and he turned around and punched Jet right across the face, knocking the surprised boy to the ground, "You shouldn't say stupid things Jet!"

"Freedom Fighters hold him!" Jet shouted, rubbing his bruising cheek.

"I have witnessed hundreds of things you could never imagine seeing. I have seen the war path the Fire Nation has left; they destroy everything in their wake. I have watched families get torn apart because their father, mother, husband, child got drafted to the war and killed. The Fire nation try to utilize any advantage they can get to win the war, anything at all, even if it has no honor in it, like killing the spirits. I have even seen them kill children just because they were descendants of Earthbenders…" He blinked several times so his tears wouldn't roll over from the memories, "I have witnessed more than you will ever see Jet, so never tell me that I don't understand!"

"Then why do you spare this one man?" Jet asked.

"Because through all of this, we hold something of value that the Fire Nation will never have, our honor. That makes us better than them, and it makes us strong. We don't kill civilians, because we have morals. If we get rid of those two things, what are we then? We're no better than the Fire Nation in that case, so please, let him go."

The old man who was captured by Jet listened on, and lowered his head in shame after listening to everything that Sokka had said.

Jet looked down at the man, his heart burning with hatred, and his mind screaming at himself to kill the man. However, another part of his mind was whispering to him. He could barely hear the soothing voice through the raging emotions in his head, but one thing was clear, it didn't want him to harm this old man, and wanted him to listen to Sokka.

"Let the old man go." He growled. The two Freedom Fighters next to the old man stood away from him, and allowed the man to run off, he then turned to Sokka, "Let him go too."

After that, they walked back to the tree house in silence, Jet too deep in his thoughts to say anything. The Freedom Fighter were also very quiet, taking in what Sokka said for all it was worth.

Unlike the others, Sokka was in a different mindset, he was worried, very worried. _Things are going too similar. I hope what I told Jet will make him come to his senses and not hurt the village…_ He opted to just count his steps to keep his mind off the disturbing thoughts. It didn't help a whole lot, but it helped get his distracted mind to organize a little bit.

As they came to the tree house, they all went up, and Sokka went around looking for any one of his friends. It didn't take him long, for he found Suki relaxing in the main house, "Suki! Where's Toph and Aang?"

"Toph is down below still," She said, Sokka smacking his forehead realizing that just now, "And Jet came in here just a moment ago to talk to Aang."

"Did he say what he wanted?" Sokka asked.

"No." Suki said, getting up from her seat and walking over to Sokka, "Did something happen on your patrol?"

"Yes. We met an old man walking through the woods late in the morning. It was the same old man I saw the last time, and it played out almost identically." He said, gripping his head in panic, forgetting all about how he wanted to get revenge on her for acting like how she did the day before, "I tried to change it by talking to Jet at the end to stop being a bully, and I think I actually got through to him once I snapped, but it played out exactly the same! Are we fated to do the same things? What were the chances that we'd find this place again? Meet the same people again? Fight the same Fire nation soldiers to meet them again and…" Sokka was beginning to hyperventilate near the end.

Suki slapped him across the face, snapping him out of it, "You're reading too much into it." She said, but he gave her a flat look, "Ok, it's suspicious that we've been doing a lot of the similar things that you, Aang, and Katara did before, but maybe it's just a really big coincidence."

"No, it's can't be. Too many things happened similarly, it has been happening since the first day we got here." He said, "It happened at Kyoshi Island, you got captured-"

"That didn't happen until much later last time though," She interrupted.

"Yeah, but it's still similar to the last time." He was beginning to panic again.

Suki got a grip on his shoulders, "Do you think that we're 'fated' to repeat everything from the last time?"

"Yes!" Sokka shouted, "That's exactly what I think!"

"But there are a lot of things we've changed too." Suki said, "We're recruiting for the eclipse. We have one city backing us already; you have the Kyoshi Warriors following you there too, and the White Lotus! That's already three different groups who did not help you last time. Please, Sokka, calm down. Maybe it's just a horrible coincidence?"

"It might not be a coincidence, but you're right… There are differences too."

"Enough to not worry about the similarities right now, right?" She hugged him, "I won't deny that there are similarities, but we have nothing to base it on. We could just punch Jet in the face right now and leave right?"

"And let all these people in the nearby village suffer?" Sokka scoffed at the idea, "No!"

"But we could," She said smiling at his resolve, "Now come on, we need to wait here while Jet tries to destroy the village, Aang already set a plan for us to follow."

"Oh? What is it?" Sokka asked.

"Come with me and I'll tell you." She said, leading him out of the tree house.

Jet was leading Aang through the forest, though he was very quiet. It was honestly beginning to get to Aang a little bit. However, he decided to just keep quiet for the time being, and let the course of events play out like it did previously. Jet finally stopped where Aang vaguely remembered filling the place up with water, and turned towards Aang. He opened his mouth, and then quickly shut it again.

"What do you want?" Aang asked.

"I…" whatever had made him hesitate passed as he shook his head, "I want you to fill this river up with water from these holes."

"I dunno," Aang said, looking at the holes, "That seems pretty hard."

"You're the Avatar, you can do it." Jet said, "Once you're done, go to the tree house and stay there. We can celebrate when I get there."

Aang began to do as he was told, filling the river with water. Jet watched on for a few minutes before encouraging Aang and heading out on his own.

Sokka and Suki rushed to where Jet was, and they saw the dam being lined up with barrels of blasting jelly. The two stood atop a large cliff, overlooking the entire process, it was now early in the afternoon, and they could see everything clearly. Suki raised an eyebrow at the sight, "Think he's using enough? He could probably fit another twenty barrels down there if he wanted." She whispered to him sarcastically.

Sokka didn't bother responding, looking at the dam lined by with barrel after barrel or blasting jelly.

"What are you two doing here?"

They turned around to see Smellerbee, followed by Longshot

"Just checking out the scenery," Sokka answered, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"You guys aren't supposed to see this." Smellerbee said.

"I won't let you do this." He said, pointing to the dam, "You'll kill hundreds of innocent lives. Do you really think it's worth it?"

"We're clearing the valley of the Fire Nation." Smellerbee said, repeating what Jet had been saying, "Sacrifices have to be made."

"No, they don't." Suki said, "You're not helping anyone. What you're doing is wrong. There are people down in that village who look up to you guys because you fight the Fire Nation, and you're going to show them how great you are by drowning them?"

"You don't understand!" Smellerbee said, though she didn't sound entirely convinced.

"You're right." Suki said, "I don't understand. I would never kill innocent people!"

Longshot grabbed an arrow, while Smellerbee pulled out her daggers, "We have to stop you… This is the right thing!"

"No it's not!" Sokka shouted, "Get that through your thick skull" _Are children always this resilient? _He thought to himself, getting really annoyed. Regardless, he drew his sword while Suki grabbed her fans from her belt.

"Just accept that you're wrong. Come with us during the invasion instead, you'll do more good there than you'll ever do here." Suki pleaded.

"Don't listen to them!" Jet said, coming forth with his hook swords out, "They're just trying to turn you against me!"

And with that the two children turned towards Sokka and Suki, a fight was imminent. Sokka and Suki tensed, and they gripped their weapons tighter, both waiting for their opponents to make the first move. It didn't take long for the fight to start, with Longshot starting it by shooting at Suki and Sokka. The arrow was going at them aimed at a non-vital part of their body, but even so it could have been a potentially life threatening shot.

Both of them jumped off to the side, their fighting senses in full swing, and their dance of death with their opponents was starting. Though they weren't going to kill these children, they weren't going to hold back either. They had to teach these kids a lesson, and it would be taught well. Jet intercepted Suki while Smellerbee went for Sokka, Longshot tried to hit either of his opponents, but the fighting made it hard for him to get a shot off towards his enemy rather than his ally.

Smellerbee's daggers crashed against Sokka's blade, and Sokka pushed her off her balance by quickly leaning forward. He slashed forward, making sure not to do any damage, and then pressed his advantage. Each step forward he took against her, she took two steps back, stumbling around, and attempting to hold up against the much better fighter of the two.

Suki was doing just as well against Jet, she easily dodged around the hooked blades that Jet used and went in close and sliced at his exposed chest, creating a few thin cuts. Jet let out a roar as he tried to gain some momentum towards Suki, but when he raised his swords to slash downward at her, she simply dodged to the side, and when Jet's blades got stuck in the ground, she used the golden moment to strike again, and make a few more cuts on him.

Longshot forced Suki to back away, and at that point she and Sokka looked at each other. Their opponents were both haggard and tired from fighting for only a minute, if even. They knew it was because they had over a decade of experience using their weapons, and in Suki's case, almost two decades, but they began to wonder if it would be smart to invite these children to the invasion after all.

However, that chain of thought stopped when Sokka quickly managed to barely dodge out of the way of an oncoming arrow, and the fight was renewed, except this time Suki and Sokka traded opponents.

Sokka and Jet clashed, and they glared into each other's eyes.

"You shouldn't be doing this." Sokka said, "I thought I got through to you this morning!"

"We have to do this." Jet said, glaring daggers at Sokka, his breathing was heavy, and sweat was beginning to form at his brows. Sokka meanwhile was sweating, but he was easily still in control of his breathing.

"You don't have to do anything."

"Yes, we do." Jet said, resuming the fight.

Suki didn't bother dodging the daggers that Smellerbee used, instead, she simply deflected them off to the side when the younger girl struck, and would cut her. She wore her down quite a bit, until the younger girl made a fatal mistake and tripped to the ground, her daggers flew out of her grasp, and Suki knelt down, placing the blade of her fan at the girl's throat.

"I would have killed you now if that is what I wanted to do." Suki said to the girl, before getting up and dodging an arrow.

Suki went to Longshot, and though he did an admirable job dodging her attacks, it soon became obvious that he wasn't one for close ranged fighting, and Suki eventually managed to defeat him rather easily.

Jet looked over to his other Freedom Fighters, who were both knocked out, or just too beat up to continue, he then did his best not to show his oncoming exhaustion.

"Give it up Jet."

Jet turned to look at the new voice, and saw Aang standing there.

"Avatar," Jet muttered, "Nice to see you here."

"What you're doing is wrong." Aang said, glaring at the boy, "I will give you two choices."

"Oh yeah?" Jet said, "And what are those?"

"One, stop this and I will let you come on the invasion with us. Two, continue this stupid act and you will face the consequences." Aang said, watching intently as Jet glared right back at the boy.

It didn't take long for Aang to get his answer, for seconds after that declaration, tons of explosions went off, and Jet allowed a grim smile onto his face, "I freed this valley! There are no more Fire Nation scum living here anymore!"

Sokka sheathed his sword, and sighed sadly, "I hoped you wouldn't have done that. You really won't change your ideals?"

"Never. Not after what happened to my family!"

Sokka was quiet, and sighed, "I'm sorry to say this, but you didn't destroy anything."

"What?"

"Look for yourself." Sokka said, spreading his hand across the horizon.

Jet crawled over to the ledge of the cliff he was on, and let out a startled cry as he saw the dam was still in perfect condition. "What?" He whispered in shock.

"Job completed Aang!" Toph said, walking into the clearing.

"Good work." Aang said, before turning to Jet, "She warned the villager's way ahead of time, and while you were busy fighting with my friends; Toph and I were helping the villagers remove the explosives from the dam. Once we got them all, we blew them all up, so you wouldn't have access to them anymore."

"You helped the Fire Nation?" Jet said in anger, "You would help our enemy? What kind of Avatar are you?"

"A fair kind. I'm supposed to bring balance to the world; I can't do that if I discriminate against one group of people." Aang watched Jet gritting his teeth, and he picked up his swords only for his hands to suddenly get captured in the rock below him and he was pulled back down to the ground.

"You're lucky I saved that one guy from the trap he set up Aang," Toph said as she walked over to the now pinned down Jet, "Otherwise they wouldn't have come with me."

"The Fire Nation guards also said that they would claim not to have seen me here, since I saved their village from being destroyed. They may have encroached upon this land, but for the Fire Nation guards, it's their home now as much as it is the Earth Kingdoms."

"Stop preaching to me!" Jet finally shouted, "Just stop!"

Aang sighed, looking sadly down at Jet, "I hope you understand why we are trying to convince you to stop your hatred of the Fire Nation. If we ever meet again, I hope it's under better circumstances." Aang said before he began to walk away.

Toph quickly got rid of the rock surrounding the boy's arms, and quickly followed after Aang. Suki and Sokka were both just a step behind her.

"W- Wait!" Jet called, and when they turned around he stood up, leaving his weapons on the ground, "You're just going to leave me here?"

"There's not enough blasting jelly for you to try and blow up the dam again." Aang said, "You won't be able to try that trick again before the water recedes."

"But, we can still ambush Fire Nation guards, patrols, and hurt people, why are you letting me go free?"

"The village won't support you any longer. Any reserves they have about hunting for children is gone now that you tried to murder them all." Aang said, the harsh reality of his words hitting Jet and the two other Freedom Fighters there, "You'd best prepare yourself to regain their trust, because it's going to be hard to do so."

"But… why?"

"I trust you'll do the right thing. I will attempt to send you a letter when the invasion starts, and I hope you and your Freedom Fighters are ready to fight for us for the right reasons, instead of giving into your hatred."

Jet widened his eyes, unsure of what to do at that moment. He knew he was at a life changing moment, and finally he sighed, "Thank you Avatar…"

As the group flew on Appa Sokka, crawled his way up to the front of the saddle where Aang was, "That was great Aang. Those parting words I mean. I think we all did a good job of hammering it into his head that what he was doing was bad."

"I didn't even talk to the guy." Toph said.

"Well, Aang and I did a good job I mean." Sokka amended.

Suki rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile, "I'm just glad nothing went wrong there, I was sure Aang's plan wouldn't work."

"Thanks." Aang mumbled.

"No, it was a good plan." She said assuring him, "It's just that usually our plans don't work unless if Sokka is involved in forming it somehow."

Sokka smiled back at her, and Aang shrugged, "Hey, it's not that hard to come up with a good plan."

And with that, Sokka began to tell a long winded explanation about just how wrong he was.

**Chapter ten – End**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter eleven**

It was early morning on the third day of travel when Zuko encountered the naval blockade surrounding the Fire Nation waters. He was standing on the bridge, and from behind the glass he watched in silence as his vessel came close to it. He knew he was about to do something stupid, and he knew there would be consequences for his foolish action, but that wasn't weighing heavily on his mind as his ship neared the blockade.

Today was the Winter Solstice. He had to get to Crescent Island as soon as possible if he wanted to catch Aang, if the Airbender would even be there. If he wasn't... Well, Zuko had other things to worry about rather than what ifs.

"We're going to be passing the blockade in five minutes." The man steering the ship said, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. Proceed." Zuko said, trying not to let his nervousness get the best of him. His uncle had been heavily against the plan, to the point of yelling at Zuko when he tried to explain things to his uncle. Unfortunately, his mind was set, he had to be hopeful, and he knew that meant not dwelling on that. His crew had thoughts along the same line as Iroh, but unlike his uncle, they decided not to voice their opinions. For the better, if Zuko had anything to say about it.

It didn't take much longer for his ship to come towards the blockade. He looked grimly at the larger ships as his smaller vessel squeezed through to the other side of the Fire Nation, heading to the island. Oddly enough, passing the blockade wasn't as bad as he feared, and he blinked a few times when they safety sailed pass it five minutes later. _Zhao must not have been in charge that time. _He mused to himself, before he excused himself from the bridge.

In the hall, his uncle stood, "We're in the Fire Nation now." Zuko told the man.

"I know." Iroh said, "I still believe it's a very unwise idea, but I will stand by you on it."

"Thank you uncle." Zuko said, smiling at the man.

The two walked silently through the hall until they reached Zuko's door, and the two entered the room. Zuko groaned in annoyance at what he saw, while Iroh coughed, hiding his amusement. Katara was sitting up healing herself slowly.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Zuko sighed.

She realized she had an audience, and let out a small yelp as she but her robe back on covering herself. She glared at Zuko blushing a little, "because I don't want to lie down in bed all day! I want to walk around, do normal things, and be able to wash myself!"

"You're too hurt to do any of that! You can barely sit up without crying in pain!"

"I can do them! I am sitting up right now aren't I?"

"And you're too proud to show your pain." Zuko pointed out, "Look, Katara, please. Just go back to bed. Healing yourself won't make it go away instantly. Burns take a long time to heal."

"And it'll leave a scar." She sighed dejectedly.

Zuko blinked, "Why does that bother you? You never seem to care about how you looked before."

She let out a long winded sigh at that, and Iroh laughed as he patted his nephew's back. Zuko looked confused as he tried to decipher an answer out of what they were doing.

"Just because I'm a fighter doesn't mean I can't be a little vain about how I look you know." She huffed when Zuko appeared not to get it.

"But you had that one scar going all the way up you arm in the future, and it didn't bother you."

"That was the future."

"What difference does it make?" Zuko said, getting to the point where he wanted to shout, "Urgh, never mind! If it'll make you feel any better, I don't think Aang is going to care at all about that. In fact, knowing him he'll think it's really awesome… After he stops beating himself over it." He cringed as he thought aloud the last bit. _Stupid, stupid…_

"Do you really think he blames himself?" She asked.

"It's Aang." Zuko said, as if that explained everything, "If anything happens to you, you know how he acts."

Iroh decided to come in between the two of them, knowing if the conversation was veering in the direction it was going, things wouldn't go very good for long, "Katara, allow me to reapply your bandages for you."

"Ok." She said after a long moment, and then she looked at Zuko, "not with him here though."

Zuko felt his eyes twitch, "You never had a problem with this before."

"Just leave!" She said, causing Zuko to roll his eyes and walk out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Iroh looked up at the girl as she pushed her braided hair aside and sighed. "You seem different from the last time I saw you." He said off-handedly.

"Really?" She asked, "I feel alright."

Iroh shrugged, "You seemed to inherit a lot more from your past self than Zuko did."

"You know about that?"

"Zuko told me." He confirmed, "Tell me, do you still love the Avatar?"

"Of course I do!" She said, feeling anger wash over her at the man's accusing question.

"Good." He smiled, "I was just making sure that it wasn't solely your past self having taken over your body."

She sighed, "I don't know, I - eh, she was so innocent, she hadn't seen the real pains of war other than losing a loved one, what the future holds… It's just, now I feel like I really am a kid again for the first time since I came back in time, you know what I mean? I embraced that about her, and I guess it really rubbed off on me when we merged into, well, me," She said, "I'm not making any sense am I?"

Iroh laughed, "I understand completely. Zuko chose to embrace his future self's personality more so than his past, and I guess you did the opposite. There are some positives and negatives to both, but I won't judge you based solely on that. You're you, there's no future you and past you. You made yourself how you are now, and you will forever be this way. I will always accept who you are."

She smiled at that, "thank you."

"Now, let's reapply the bandages," He said, kneeling down next to her bed. She took her robe off, and he examined the wound, "Your water healing is speeding up the healing process, but be careful. If you speed it up too quickly it will make the scar worse than it is."

"Really?"

"Yes. You need to give your body time to create more resources to patch up your skin. If you try to heal it without enough skin over a wound, for example, it will twist and contort until both sides patch together." She made a sick face, and he laughed, "It's not quite as gruesome as it sounds! I assure you!"

"But it makes the pain go away, and I can stand up for a little bit after I have done that."

Iroh looked alarmed, "You've been standing? With this?" He shook his head, "Don't do that anymore!"

"I hate being stuck in bed all day though." She mumbled, looking out the small window in the room.

"I know you desire to go outside, especially after being stuck inside for three days, but please understand that this is for the best."

She nodded, and sat up so Iroh could wrap a new roll of bandages around her abdomen. It still hurt her to sit up, but combined with three days of rest, and recently using her own healing powers, it was much less painful than it otherwise would have been. Once it was finished, she went back down.

"Don't you have anything to read?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, no. Next time we go to a market I'll pick something out for you though, I promise." He said.

"Where are we right now?"

"We're in the Fire Nation." He sighed, "Let's hope the Avatar is going to Crescent Island, otherwise this will be wasted, and make my brother very unhappy."

"What will happen if the Avatar is not there?"

"We need to get out of the Fire Nation as quickly as possible before something worse happens to us all." Iroh said seriously, and then smiled, "Now, please, get some rest. We're still sailing, and should be at the temple in a few more hours."

Katara leaned back down and sat there as Iroh walked out. She let out a sigh as she looked at the ceiling, unsure if what to do. She would like to heed Iroh's word, but she didn't want to be left out from going inside the temple. She finally just shook her head and tried to get some sleep. Thankfully, it wasn't as elusive as she feared, and she was sound asleep within minutes.

A few hours later Zuko and Iroh were both on the bow of the ship looking at the Island that was coming into their view.

"It's an hour before the Solstice Zuko, are you sure your friend is coming?" Iroh whispered over to Zuko.

"He has to come." He said back.

"And if he doesn't."

"I don't know." Zuko sighed, "I'm going to go up there though. Maybe he'll be able to pass all the sages by himself."

"The sages?" Iroh asked, "Aren't they loyal to the Avatar?"

"No." Zuko sighed, "They're only loyal to my father."

"Then be careful. I doubt they will be happy to see you come through."

"Duly Noted." Zuko said, "Stay here and watch the ship. Don't let anyone else come in, and make sure Katara doesn't do anything stupid."

Iroh smiled at that, "I'll do what has to be done."

"Good." Zuko said, turning back to the island as his ship loomed closer to it.

Once his ship was close enough, he had his men lower the ramp so he could walk to the island. Once there, he walked up towards the gigantic temple. He let out a small breath, and he continued onward.

The sun was going to be setting soon, and it lit up the water in a mixture of yellows and oranges. The sky was beginning to turn orange and purple as well. He knew he had less than an hour, so he had to work fast. With that knowledge firmly in mind, he opened the door to the temple and stepped in.

All that greeted him was silence, and he didn't dare call out, not knowing if the fire sages would attack him or help him, so instead of taking the chance, he just walked onwards, he thankfully knew the layout of the place well enough, having navigated the place in the previous life with ease, and so it didn't take long before he was standing in front of a large door, that required five Firebenders to open.

"Where is he?" He mumbled, looking all around. It was just mere minutes before the Solstice, and Aang was nowhere to be found. He forced himself to calm, and that is when someone shouted at him, causing his calming effect to be ruined.

"You there, boy! What are you doing?"

He looked over to see several old men in traditional red robes of the sages. He glared at that, _These men willingly betrayed the Avatar. _Shaking his head, he looked up at them, "I'm waiting for the Avatar to show up. He's supposed to be here, right?"

"Well, yes." One of the sages agreed reluctantly, "On the Solstice the light hit Roku's head, and allows the Avatar to converse with him." Realization dawned on his face, "You wish to capture the Avatar here then?"

"Yes." Zuko nodded, "Open the door, he might be in there now!"

The sages looked shocked, "But Prince Zuko, we would know if someone entered our temple. We've been following you the entire time."

Zuko was surprised by this, not knowing he had been followed, "Really?"

"Yes, no one has entered this temple today besides you."

Zuko was at a loss. Aang wasn't here. He had risked everyone's lives to go into the Fire Nation on a false lead. He growled, _No, I won't give up – not yet! _

"Open the door." He said, "He has to be in there. I won't take no for an answer!"

The sages looked reluctant, but they did as he said. Zuko sighed in relief quietly, so they wouldn't hear him, and he watched as the five sages got in their place and shot fire at the door. The device quickly began to move around, before shortly the door slowly opened, making a large creaking noise as the door continually slide open. The light from the chamber he was in lit the room up, and to his dismay, no one was in there.

He walked into the room, and fell in front of the statue of Roku onto his knees, "No!" He cried out, "He isn't here! I risked so much to be here! And now…"

"And now you'll be coming with us." The head sage said, "You've come in the Fire Nation knowing you were banished. You must be turned in."

Zuko stood up as he turned to face them. They were all masters of Firebending, and Zuko knew this would be difficult if they were as good as the sages were supposed to be. He dropped into a fighting stance, and glared at them as they began to inch their way into the room. Right before their feet were about to enter the room though, the door slammed shut, and the door locked. He could hear the sages moaning in pain from the door hitting them so hard.

The sages were now locked on the other side, while Zuko was stuck in a small room with only a ray of Sunlight about to hit Roku's statue. "What was that?" Zuko mumbled, knowing that the door shouldn't have closed like that. "Spirits?" He hazarded a guess.

He looked around the room back at the statue of Roku, and fell to the ground, "Damn! I shouldn't have come here! Why do I always make the wrong choice?"

He wasn't going to cry. He was far too proud to do something like that when something didn't go his way, and he refused to back down regardless. He looked up, noticing the beam of light was seconds away from hitting Roku's forehead, indication the Solstice.

"I wasted my time coming here, might as well see if anything is going to happen." He said, turning towards the statue and sitting cross-legged in front of it. _Five, four, three… _He counted down in his head, watching the light move slowly, _two, one. _The light hit its mark. Zuko held in his breath, waiting for something to happen. He sat there waiting a few more seconds, "It's not going to work is it?" He finally asked aloud, "I have to get out of here with five master Firebenders on my tail!"

He cursed as he stood up and paced around the room, trying not to burn anything in his sight. He knew that the mere action of coming into the Fire Nation would be a risk. He knew his father would hear about it, and he knew there would be repercussions. He screwed up bad, and he knew it.

"I shouldn't have listened to Katara." Even as he said that however, he disagreed with every word he spoke. It was their only lead, what else were they supposed to do? He let out a yell of frustration and hit a nearby wall as hard as he could, smearing it with black from his Firebending. Thankfully it was not wooden, and didn't get caught on fire.

He finally looked to the door, _why haven't they entered in here yet? _He could hear the sound of them Firebending, and he knew that they could enter the room, so it confused him greatly that they weren't entering the room. _Is this room locked? _He vaguely remembered something similar happening last time, but instead it was Aang in this room instead of himself.

"Hello?" Zuko called out, desperate now for anything to happen.

"Hello." Another voice whispered back, and Zuko stood ridged with attention. He looked all around himself to find the source, yet there was none that he could find. "I have been observing you for some time, Son of the Fire Lord."

Zuko felt his heart drop. Was Roku going to do something to him because of his status? "Roku?" He asked gently, "I'm working with the Avatar." He clarified, trying to make the man show himself.

"Is that so?" Zuko spun around and couldn't help but let a small gasp come out of his lips as he saw Roku standing there. The old man looked at Zuko, an his face emotionless, and his eyes lifeless. He towered over Zuko, and had a long flowing white beard, "I have difficulties believing you."

"As you should," Zuko admitted, "I hope you'll trust me enough, since I'm your great grandson."

Roku wasn't surprised to hear this, and simply nodded, "I suppose helping family out would be kind. We don't have much time however, and I must ask, where is Aang? He is supposed to be here so I can give him valuable information."

"We know about the comet." Zuko said, "Aang does, I mean."

"What? Does he really?"

"Yes. We know a lot of things Master Roku." Zuko said, getting on his knees in front of the man, hoping the extra length he was going would help calm the elder Avatar down and trust him, "The Avatar and I are good friends. We have fought the Fire Lord once, and we know about the eclipse coming, that is when we plan to invade the Fire Nation and try to defeat the Fire Lord again. We can't fail this time." Zuko said in a long breath.

He didn't know it was possible, but Zuko saw Roku's emotionless face break out of it, and the man was giving Zuko an odd look, "I would know if you had done any of those things."

"I know." Zuko said, "But I guess that doesn't extend to travelling back in time with us, does it?"

Now Roku was absolutely speechless, his mouth had fallen open, and he looked wide eyed at Zuko, "What?" He demanded, "You came to the past? When, how?"

"So the spirits don't know about it?" Zuko mused to himself, "you heard right. We found a scroll that could help us. It detailed exactly how to get back in time. Getting the items for the ritual wasn't an easy task. It took us seven years to find everything."

"Why would you come back?"

"We lost." Zuko said.

"Did Aang not use the Avatar state?" Roku continued.

"He couldn't. He died while he was in the Avatar state, and after that he was never able to use it. He was revived by spirit water." Zuko said quickly preemptively capturing Roku's next question, "He had to fight the Fire Lord during the comet, and lost."

"That must be why I couldn't get Fang to contact him." Roku thought aloud, "He was unable to make contact with his spirit."

"Yeah, he says he still can't go into the Avatar State."

"This poses a major problem." Roku said, "However, I know the Avatar State isn't broken. I can still feel it connected to me."

Zuko was surprised to hear this, "What?"

"Yes. If an Avatar dies in the Avatar State, the chain of Avatar's is forever destroyed, as you may know. However, I can still feel my brethren; I know the chain is not yet broken in this time."

Zuko was speechless, and his mind was working in overtime to try and figure out why that was. "I don't know why." Zuko said at last.

"I wasn't asking you to figure it out." Roku laughed at that, "What you told me is vastly important though. I must consult with the other spirits, for our time is nearly up."

"I barely talked to you though!"

"I apologize for that."

"Wait- can you figure out where Aang is for me?" Zuko shouted as he saw Roku's spirit begin to dim, "We got separated, and now I have no idea where he could be!"

Roku's spirit paused, "Fang could find out, but in the time it would take him to find your friend, I fear will be far too long. You lack the ability to converse with spirits outside of times like this, I apologize once more, dear grandson."

Zuko's ears lifted at that, and he smiled after a small bit, feeling good to be acknowledged by the Avatar like that.

"There is one last act I may do for you." Roku said, "I can sense the traitorous sages waiting for you behind the doors, I will get rid of them for you so you may escape."

Zuko nodded, "Thank you." He stood up off the ground, and then properly bowed to the man.

"Open the doors now, my time is short." Roku said, and Zuko wasted no time in rushing to the doors and pushing them open. The Fire sages gathered around and were about to attack when suddenly a large presence behind the boy made himself known.

"I am…" Roku looked at all the men around the room, pausing for dramatic effect, "Disappointed."

With that he thrust both hands downward, and the tower began to shake violently. The sages stared wide eyed at Roku, before the shock passed, and they realized that the building was beginning to collapse around them.

"Go now." Roku said to Zuko, before his spirit faded away.

Zuko nodded, and burst forth from the room, running pass the sages. He fled down the tower, the sages only a step behind him. However, instead of the sages chasing him, they were instead running for their lives. Zuko didn't even look back as he burst out of the tower, the doors simply falling forward, having been unhinged during the eruption of the nearby volcano that Roku had caused. He saw the sages running off to a boat that they used to get to the temple and to go to the mainland, and then he looked forward, seeing his ship off in the distance.

"Just got to run to my ship on an island that is erupting, nothing too hard." Zuko muttered under his breath as he ran as fast as he could to his ship.

"Get ready to leave!" Zuko shouted up to the crew, though they didn't need Zuko to tell them that, they were way ahead of him. Zuko rushed up the ramp, and finally took time to take a small breath. He felt the ship shaking, and his thoughts momentarily went to Katara, _I bet she's not happy with this. _He snapped out of it, _I don't need to think of that right now! _With that understood, he rushed up to the bow, and watched as the tower fell down into itself. The top floor collapsing into the floor below it, and then it repeated so on and so forth.

The island was getting covered in lava now, coating the surface Zuko just ran across moments ago with the fiery substance. He shuddered at the sight. "Come on! Let's get out of here!" He said after looking at the island for a small bit, "It was a false lead; we need to get back to the Earth Kingdom, immediately." Zuko said.

His uncle walked up to him, "Nothing happened?"

"No. He wasn't there." Zuko sighed, "But I did meet Roku."

Iroh was shocked by the news, and was about to say something more, but the boat lurched back, meaning that it must have hit a sandbar and just recently got free. Zuko growled at that, knowing his crew could have easily avoided such a deadly trap. He let it drop though, knowing that it was done, and that they were escaping the island now.

"What do you mean you met Roku?"

"Exactly as I said."

"What did you talk about?" Iroh sighed.

"I told him I was his great grandson, and things went off from there. He also didn't trust me because I was the Fire Lord's son, but I convinced him not to worry about that. I told him everything – about the future, and such to get him to trust me. All I got out of our conversation was that the Avatar state is not dead. It's still there."

"Oh?" Iroh said, "Does your friend know of this?"

"No. He said that it was still missing from him." Zuko sighed, "I don't know how he still has it if Aang claims to not have it."

Iroh nodded for a little bit, and looked thoughtful, "Do you suppose it could be his past self? The child present in his body before he took over?"

At that, Zuko went stiff. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped at the thought, "That- that is…" He was speechless.

"It's wonderful news." Iroh finished for him.

"Wonderful?" Zuko echoed, "No, it's not just that. It's the best news I have heard in my life! We have two advantages now! The Avatar State and the eclipse, it's amazing!" He was trying to come up with more words, but he couldn't.

"Don't strain yourself nephew." Iroh said, grabbing his shoulder with a gentle smile, "Come on now, we're getting out of the Fire Nation, and you need some rest."

Iroh led Zuko down to his room, considering Zuko's own was occupied at the moment. At the very least, they got some good news out of all of this, even if undoubtedly it would cause trouble for Zuko in the long run.

The Fire Lord's throne room was frightening; there was a long red carpet that led up to a chair that was surrounded by fire on almost all sides, but most prominently the front. The carpet leading up to the throne had row after row of parallel pillars on either side, making everything seem so much larger than life, especially the Fire Lord, who sat elevated far above any of the men who would come to see him.

As of now, the Fire Lord was in the room, and one lone girl was kneeling in front of him, her head bowed low.

"You asked for me father?"

"Yes." Ozai said, looking down at his daughter. She was his pride and joy. She learned everything she knew from him, and was without exception one of the best things to happen in his life. She was his tool, a weapon, and he loved her for it. She received his affection when she did something right, and only then. Failure was never an option for her, and she knew this. She strived to be everything he envisioned her to be, no matter what the costs. Now she knelt down before her father, and he smiled gently down at her.

"I have a report from a day ago that says Zuko entered the Fire Nation."

At the mere mention of his name, the tension in the room went up several notches, and if possible, she leaned forward even more to hear what he had to say about him.

"He went to the Avatar temple on Crescent Island. Roku's temple, if you recall correctly from your texts."

"Yes, I know." She said immediately afterwards, her tone was cold, and she tried not to glare at the man she tried to impress on a daily basis.

"Very good." Ozai said, making her sudden hatred for him disappear, and be replaced with joy at the praise she received, "The temple is destroyed. The Fire Sages claim that Zuko went into the Avatar chamber of the temple, and then Roku came out with him and destroyed the temple."

"That's ridiculous." She said.

"It is." Ozai acknowledged, "However, your brother broke the agreement we had for his exile. He was not to enter the waters of the Fire Nation until he returned with the Avatar to restore his honor. For him to have such audacity to come in without my express permission shows me that my _son_ has no loyalty to me, and I shall treat him in the same manner he has treated me."

The way he spat that out, as if it burned his tongue to mention his failure of a son, made her smile, and she nodded along. "What do you want me to do?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

"I have also received letters from Admiral Zhao about him as well." He held up a scroll of parchment.

She noted the new title Zhao had, but didn't comment on it. She had to force herself not to cry out in protest against the change – the man was an imbecile, but she wasn't going to tell her father just what she thought of him. Her mind turned to the letters her father had gotten from the man, and her eyes focused on them through her bangs.

"These scroll from Zhao claiming that Zuko is a traitor, and gives me several reasons." He cleared his throat and he opened the parchment and read them off, "For bringing a known Waterbender into a concentration camp that was soon after liberated."

She heard about that, though from the rumors coming in, it claimed the Earth Kingdom forces had done that. She couldn't determine if Zhao was exaggerating the truth to make Zuko sound worse, or if he just truly hated Zuko. After a little thought, she decided it was a little of both. She didn't care regardless, really.

"For saving this known Waterbender at the recently destroyed metal prison platform for Earthbenders." He continued to read.

She frowned at that. She had heard about another place being taken out, but out of them all, she didn't think that one would be it. The Earthbenders were almost useless without their element, and she couldn't imagine how a group of kids would be able to take out the guards stationed there. Was it yet again another lie from Zhao? She thought on it. It was likely.

"And for refusing a direct order to stop hunting for the Avatar from his superiors." Ozai finished.

She wanted to laugh at that one. It sounded like an afterthought, and knowing Zhao, it probably was an afterthought. After all, having two reasons didn't seem as good as three.

"Good reasons, don't you think?" Ozai asked, looking down at his daughter for any sign of a reaction.

She didn't give him any, her voice was emotionless as she replied, "Yes, father."

"Due to Zhao being busy handling the Avatar, I have decided that you should be the one for this task. I trust your abilities more than any other person, general or otherwise, I know."

She tried to hide her smile at the outright praise she was getting, and only achieved partly. Her lips went up slightly, but thankfully her emotionless disposition wasn't compromised, since Ozai couldn't see.

"That is why I ask you to go seek out your brother. I want you to observe him on his ship. Travel with him, and if you find any signs that he is a traitor, contact me immediately. After sending the letter, I give you the right to kill him."

Her initial shock was then replaced with another layer of shock. Her father gave her permission to kill her brother. Her older brother, who always had mother's attention. The brother that ignored her out of jealous hatred. The one she did everything in her power to show she was better than him. The thought of killing him had never crossed her mind, but… She looked up at her father for the first time, and saw him smiling at her.

"If you do this task, I will be very please."

That did it. She would kill her brother if she had to. She again bowed down to her father, "I will do as you ask right away."

"Very good Azula. Do not fail me."

Five days had passed since Zuko had been in the Fire Temple. The blockade again allowed him to pass back into the waters of the Earth Kingdom, which he was again very thankful for. He hadn't known whether he would be stopped, and the feeling of being free again was unlike anything else he had felt before.

He walked down the hall of his ship to his room, and let out a sigh as he opened the door, "Katara?"

She was sitting upward, the pain of doing so was now just a stinging sensation she could ignore now. She was leaning against the metal wall of the ship, her back would have been cold if not for Iroh's robe she was wearing. The oversized garment was very warm, and very soft. She was looking straight ahead, very bored as she looked over to him, "Hi." She replied flatly.

"We're docking soon."

"Where?"

"You probably won't like the name very much."

She shrugged, "I don't like a lot of things."

"It's called the Seedy Merchants Pier."

She paused at that, "Where we met the pirates?"

"What?"

"Yeah, I kinda remember." She said, "We met some pirates there and they had a scroll I stole from them. You were there. Remember?"

"When I stole your necklace?"

"Yeah!" She said, "You know, you got way too close to me back then. If people didn't know that we were against each other, they might have gotten the wrong idea. Actually you know-"

"Anyway," He said, bringing the girl back on track, "That's where we're stopping."

"Why?"

"Because my ship is running low on supplies, and uncle says he needs to mail some very important letters to his friends - letters involving the war."

She nodded in understanding at that, "Oh, ok."

"I just thought you should know." Zuko said, before turning to leave, "You just stay in here. We'll buy you something to read so you won't be as bored."

"No!" She said, standing, "I have had enough of this room. No offense Zuko, but spending all my time brooding about things isn't how I am! I want to go out to the town with you guys!"

"You're my prisoner, what do you think my crew would think." He said, trying to rationalize things.

"Please Zuko," She said, lowering her voice quite a bit, "I need to get out of here for a little bit. You can come up with something, right?"

He looked into her eyes before turning away and groaning, "Maybe."

She cheered, "Do you guys have something I can wear besides this?"

"We don't have many fourteen year old girls on this ship if you hadn't noticed."

"A simple no would've sufficed Zuko."

"I don't roll like that."

She blinked at that, "You've been hanging around Sokka way too much."

He shrugged, but had a smile on his face, "Come on, we can buy you some new clothes in town. Since your others were destroyed."

"Thank you." She said earnestly, "For everything."

"You're a good friend." He said simply.

He turned to walk out of the room, but before he even had a chance to get far she hugged him tightly, "You always try to simplify things. Of course you helped me because I'm your friend! I love you too." She said parting from him.

He smiled at that, "Come on."

"Help me walk." She said, and he put her arm around his shoulder. Though it had been eight days since she woke up, walking still hurt her after a while, and she still needed support for it. The two week old burn would was healing nicely, and she was able to do everything by herself again.

The two walked down the hall, the crew giving her an odd glance every once in a while, but they looked away when they saw Zuko walking with her.

As they walked down the halls, Zuko's thoughts wandered to Katara, and how she had changed so much in the past week. Before she was hurt, she wasn't nearly as… innocent, he should say, as she was now. She acted a lot more like a child now than she did before, basically she acted her bodies age. She still knew everything from the future, and still talked about it, the invasion, and everything with the utmost importance, but it was now layered with a new, more innocent girl.

He couldn't explain it, and he didn't know if he liked it very much. His uncle had tried to tell him about it, about how her merge was more with her child, whereas he was more with his adult side, but even then, he couldn't understand why she would chose to go the child route again if given the choice. Zuko acted more like a child now than he did before, but she was a lot different than he was after the merge.

However, to see that child-like innocence again in her, when she lost it so long ago was a nice feeling. He still remembered Aang trying to comfort her as she was uncontrollable sobbing when she had first killed someone to protect another. That was the moment her innocence was truly lost, and after that moment she was never the same. No one should have to go through that at the age of sixteen.

To see it resurface now though, he felt happy. Being around her brought a certain happiness that he had not felt in ages. He liked it when she constantly threatened him when she had to change, or when she told him to help her braid her hair, or when she talked about the future as if another person was there during it instead of her. It was refreshing, and he was truly happy for her.

However, that was what concerned him. He didn't like it very much because he knew that this Katara would have to reface those hardships over again if they had to occur. It wasn't exactly a good thing she was so distant from the future events. Whereas she could talk about it as if she wasn't there at all, Zuko remembered every detail. Every death was still finely woven into his mind. He was practically immune to all of it now, and that made him a powerful person in his own right.

He would have lost a lot because of his choice to merge more with his older self, but really, he had lost his innocence a lot earlier than any child had to. Thinking about to his father, his hand unconsciously reached up to his scar. He hated his father. He was sure not to let that be his drive for Firebending, but at times, it was very tempting. He knew it was Aang's destiny to fight his father though, so he just had to focus on the other tasks at hand.

His mind found itself wandering back to Katara, and he looked over to her. She glanced back at him, "Do you need something?" She asked.

"Just thinking."

"What a surprise." She said with a smile, causing him to smile as well.

_I wonder how Aang will react to her. _With that final though, the two were off the ship, and heading into the town.

"Uncle went with several other crewmen to gather the supplies. We'll be staying the night here, so take your time with finding something. Can you handle to walk with me not helping you?"

She nodded, "I think so."

He let go of her gently, keep his arms within reach of her should she fall, but none of that happened.

"Good." Zuko said.

"It feels so nice to be outside again!" She said, spinning around.

Zuko rolled his eyes at the dramatic display, "Come on, let's go buy you some new clothes."

The town they chose to shop in wasn't exactly that great, and there were a lot of shady vendors all around. However, it was still day, so they had nothing to fear. The place was also occupied by the Fire Nation, so they could ironically depend on the Fire Nation guards to defend them if something did happen.

"You might want to hide that necklace." Zuko said as a small patrol of Fire Nation men walked by, "You don't want to attract their attention to it."

She nodded, and raised her robe up higher to hide it completely.

They eventually found a shop to go in that had a lot of premade clothes ready. They started out by measuring her size, with her telling Zuko very sternly to look away, which he did. When the robe came off, the person measuring let out a gasp as she saw the burns and the scar that had formed on her abdomen; however, she quickly composed herself and went straight back to work.

It took almost an hour, and by that time Zuko was on the street sitting down, letting the sun in the sky beat down on him. He was very relaxed, and was beginning to doze off.

"Zuko! Water Tribe to Zuko! Are you there?"

He shook his head and looked up, "What?"

"Do you like my new clothes?"

"You got red." He said, "Not that I mind, but I figured you'd get blue."

"You look so nice Katara!" She said mimicking Zuko's voice, "Thanks Zuko."

"You're welcome." He said flatly.

She rolled her eyes, "They didn't have blue. It was either red or black. Something due to it being the Fire Nation's national colors or something, I wasn't listening by then. So it was basically asking me to choose my poison. I went with red because it was marginally brighter than black."

Zuko raised an eyebrow, "Choose your own poison? They're clothes. What difference does the color make?"

"You'd never understand." She decided to say after a very tense moment, "Now come on, there has to be other things we can do before it gets dark."

They began to walk through the streets, and Zuko finally did examine her new outfit. He had to admit she at least look pretty in it. Of course her Hair style with the braid and Hair loops, and the necklace kind of contrasted with it all, but overall she looked good. It was very similar to the clothes she wore when they went around in the Fire Nation, except the midriff was covered, understandably. He remembered seeing her in it a few times, after the failed attempt to kill the Fire Lord and they were running…

He shook his head, _don't think about that. _He told himself.

He was following behind Katara when she suddenly stopped and he almost ran into her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"We need to get this." She showed him a small whistle that was shaped like a bison off of a vendor's cart.

"Aang whistle." Zuko muttered, "You mean he bought that?"

"Yeah," She said, "Can I have a copper piece?"

Zuko reached into his pocket to get the money and handed her the coin. She bought it and immediately pocketed it, as if she thought someone would steal it.

"No one is going to want that." Zuko said, "It's a piece of crap as far as they're concerned."

She thought about it for a moment before shrugging, "Can never be too careful."

"I guess not." He conceded.

A little while later they arrived back on the ship, and saw a bunch of supplies littering the top of it, occasionally a crewman would come up and bring it down into the storage room. It went on like this for a little while, before Iroh walked up to Zuko, "I mailed those letters. We should be relieving some very interesting replies in the next few weeks."

"Good." Zuko said.

"You look stunning," Iroh said to Katara, "The Avatar is lucky to have you by his side."

"Thank you." She said, hugging the old man.

"Zuko!" One of the crew ran over shouting, interrupting the party that was going on, "There's another ship coming out in the distance!"

"So? Boats come here all the time."

"Not ones like this." He handed the telescope he was using to Zuko, and he looked out across the sea and out to the distance. Seconds later, the telescope dropped, and shattered. However, that wasn't a concern of Zuko's at the moment.

"Who is it?" Katara asked worriedly.

"It's a royal flagship." Zuko mumbled feeling numb, "And Azula is on it."

Katara could feel her insides freeze at the mention of that name, and even Iroh tensed up. The rest of the crew felt the tension, and knew it was something really bad.

"Uncle, take Katara and put her in my room for now, we don't need Azula to complicate things with her further. Men! Clear up the deck as fast as possible!" Everyone did his orders as fast as they possibly could, Katara glanced one more time back at Zuko before she allowed Iroh to herd her back inside. Zuko was just looking out in the distance, his heart beating like mad, and his mind tried to compose itself.

_Azula always lies. _He reminded himself.

In the future, Azula had become the most effective tool in the Fire Nation's arsenal. She had taken out the Avatar's group wherever they had gone, and was the most deadly person Zuko had ever met. She took over the position of Fire Lord, due to Ozai being called Phoenix King, and she ruled the Nation with an iron fist. Anything negative against her was met with swift retribution, and the people who were willing to talk against her rule were slowly quieted over the years, until it was just their own group.

She was driven to near insanity in her quest to kill them all, and she nearly succeeded quite a few times as well. She was the reason Mai and Ty Lee had died. She sent those assassins, and they knew their groups weaknesses by heart, and used that to their advantage. He felt an old hatred burning inside of him, and he glared at the ship as it began to draw nearer and nearer, ignoring everything else around him now.

It was slowly approaching, he didn't know if it were a mind game that Azula liked to play so much, or if the flagship was always that slow, but it was getting to him. His nails dug into his skin, and his breath began to pick up.

"Calm yourself Prince Zuko." Iroh said gripping his shoulder, knowing him out of his darkening thoughts. A lot of time must have passed if his uncle was back all ready.

"Thank you uncle." He whispered back.

For almost an hour the two stood there as the Flagship neared, and once it did, it was massive. Zuko's ship was but a mere fly compared to the magnificent ship that had come. Soon a ramp was lowered, and landed with a loud thud on Zuko's ship. Azula slowly walked down the ramp, several large men behind her.

She reached Zuko's ship, and the ramp lifted behind her, leaving only her and the four royal guards that had escorted her. She looked to Zuko, and then over to Iroh, doing it several times before she let out a sigh, "No greetings? I didn't think your manners would degrade so quickly."

"What are you doing here."

"Always to the point Zuzu," She sighed, "You've been bad, so father has appointed me to watch over you in whatever you do. I will be watching your every movement, so you've better not screw up."

The intense look in her eyes Zuko recognized easily from when she was trying to hunt him down in the future, _she thinks I'm some kind of animal to be cruelly tortured. She'll have another thing coming if that's the case. _

"Welcome to my ship." Zuko said, "You can pick any room you want. Make yourself at home." He turned around and walked away, not giving Azula any more time to play any mind games.

"I will Zuko!" She called to his retreating form, "This place will be exactly like home to me!"

Not knowing what she meant by that, and not willing to learn, Zuko wandered into his ship and shut the metal door right behind him.

**Chapter eleven – End**

A/N - I thought long and hard if I should cut out the part where Katara says she loved Zuko, because I was so sure a lot of people would take it the wrong way, but in the end I kept it in there. I tell my friends I love them all the time, and they know what I mean. So if you did take it the wrong way, it doesn't mean she loves him in _THAT _way, just as a really good friend.**  
**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter twelve**

It was nightfall, and the large fortress known as Pohuai Stronghold was going through the motions as usual. The Fire Nation base had the patrols lining the several large gates in the front, lighting the path with their Firebending and lighting each torch they came across. In the courtyards men would constantly train, as would the famed Yu Yan Archers.

"You will not get my archers on your wild goose chase; they're required to fight on the frontlines of a real war!" Shinu said, turning away from Zhao.

"Capturing the Avatar is of the utmost importance I hope you realize." Zhao said, trying to convince the equally ranked general beside him. They were high in an overlook, watching the archers down below in the courtyards training. Their accuracy was beyond impressive, able to shoot the dead center endlessly, piercing right through their arrows to do so every time.

"To the Fire Lord or to you?" Shinu asked, though his attention was focused on the Archers continual training, as if regarding Zhao was not worth his time.

Zhao growled at the blatant disrespect, but kept his tongue in line, "The Avatar seeks to destroy the progress we've made all these years. Surely you've heard of his exploits thus far!"

"Taking out two prisons?" The man laughed, "Impressive."

"You underestimate the threat he poses."

"And you fail to understand me when I say you can't use my men. We're fighting a real war here. Now go on."

Zhao closed his eyes, trying not to allow his dislike for the man rouse him into action, finally he sighed, "Very well Colonel."

When he turned to walk away a messenger hawk suddenly landed on the side of the tower the two of them were in, and Shinu took the message it had, his eyes scanned over the paper as he held it up, and his body went stiff. Zhao, seeing the reaction, walked back towards his equal, and snatched the letter out of his hand, reading it for himself before allowing a smile to cross his face.

"It seems the Fire Lord has seen fit to promote me to Admiral." He looked up towards Shinu, "My request is now an order."

"Very well." The man bowed, knowing that he had to abide to Zhao's orders now, or else it would be treason against the Fire Nation. He walked off to assemble a group of archers to do Zhao's bidding.

Zhao looked down at the archers from his perch, his whirlwind of thoughts consisted of his fame for capturing the Avatar, and how the Fire Lord would reward him for doing it. He allowed a small chuckle to leave his lips, and then he followed after Shinu seconds later, not wanting him to give him inadequate archers for the job.

The next day a storm was brewing, Aang could see lightning forming on the horizon, and he knew that it would be very dangerous to fly Appa through it, "We're going to land early today." He called back to his friends.

"What?" Sokka asked, "We've only been flying for like six hours!"

"Look at the weather." Aang said.

Sokka looked around. True, the gray clouds, the small sound of thunder off in the distance, and the light sprinkle was a good indication of a storm coming, a perfect indication even, but that still didn't stop him, "So? It's going to get a little wet soon."

Suki sighed, "Sokka, it's dangerous to fly in this kind of weather!"

Sokka crossed his arms, "Since when has weather stopped us before?"

"Quite a few times I can remember," She said, getting slightly annoyed, "Like the one time we were at the South Pole and-"

"Fine." Sokka said, knowing it was a lost cause trying to argue the point against them both, "It will give us time to go to town for supplies."

"We're out of money if you've forgotten Sokka." Toph said.

"We'll have to earn some then."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Suki asked.

"Toph of course! She is amazing at getting money."

"You mean scamming people." Aang said flatly. However, he shrugged, "Oh well, not like we have much else to do right now."

Suki had her arms crossed and her lips were in a thin line, a clear indication that she didn't care for what Sokka and Toph were planning as they huddled together on Appa. She shook her head, and instead crawled her way up the back of Appa towards Aang and Momo, who were both looking around for some place to land.

The weather was steadily getting worse, and Aang was getting lower to the ground due to Appa's uncomfortable grunting as he saw lightning flash in the distance.

"There!" Suki pointed out to Aang. It was some small ruins, probably some ancient temple or something, and it looked vaguely like the Air Temple ruins. Pushing that aside though, Aang nodded and slowly went down towards it, especially when he saw the roof over the place. It didn't take long, but by the time they were under the roof, they were all more than a little wet.

"We're going to have to put the sleeping bags up to dry for the night." Sokka sighed, "Can you bend us a fire Aang?"

"Sure." He said, jumping off Appa's head and landing on the ground. He looked around, and a sense of déjà vu hit him. Surrounding the roof were several pillars holding the place up, and further out in the distance they could make out a small town surrounding by the mountainous terrain. He wandered over to the side of the ruins, where a huge chunk was blown out, and water cascaded off the side of the roof down towards the ground where he was standing.

"You ok Aang?" Toph asked, walking next to him.

"Yeah, this place just seems familiar." He said, looking around. He saw Appa sitting on the ground, looking around the place, and Momo was flying around doing a little exploring.

"You've been here before?"

Aang let out a small gasp, "Yes, now I remember this place!"

"Huh, you do?" Sokka asked, coming up to the spot with Suki.

"Yeah! This is where you were really sick after that huge storm, and I had to go find the cure for you!" Aang exclaimed.

"Oh, the frogs?" Sokka said, but then realization dawned on his face, "This is the same place?"

"I'm positive." Aang said.

Sokka blinked a few times, and tried to laugh it off, "First we find Jet by accident, and now we come here? That's a pretty big coincidence."

"Almost too big a coincidence." Aang mumbled.

Sokka nodded, "Yeah."

"You guys are probably reading too deeply into it." Suki said, "It's been a week since we saw Jet. We've been camping in a lot of places since then, are you saying that it's that big of a coincidence? Do you guys remember the other places we've slept at for the past few days?"

"It's just that something significant happened in this place and in the forest we met Jet," Sokka said, trying to explain it, "It's happening in the same order as last time too."

"So what's supposed to happen here?" Toph asked.

"I'm supposed to get captured by a group of elite archers and taken to this really big fortress." Aang said, "We should get out of here as soon as possible. I have a really bad feeling about staying here too long."

"Now you're giving me the creeps." Toph said, shivering, "I feel like something bad _will _happen."

"We can't move out with this storm like it is now though." Suki said, "Tomorrow morning we'll go down to the village, get some supplies, and head out towards the coast and look for Zuko's ship like we have been doing for the past few days, is that good?"

Aang looked out at the rain and tried not to let his apprehension show. In truth, he wanted to get out of there immediately, but the weather forced them to stay put for now. He forced himself to calm down, and he nodded, "All right, we'll get supplies tomorrow morning and head out, immediately."

With that decided they began to prepare for the stormy night ahead of them.

Down in the village, the roads were becoming increasingly muddy from the constant downpour of the rain, and several shops closed due to the weather. It was difficult for any one person to see more than a few yards in front of them, so most people were inside their houses. However, one building that was still populated by lots of people was the local bar.

"Come on!" A rich looking man entered the bar, water soaking right through his finely woven robe and matting his hair to his forehead, "The rain is ruining my clothes!"

"Who cares about your dress?" The second man walked in, he couldn't help but frown as he watched his companion entering the bar, "I swear, you act like some sort of noble woman rather than an Earthbending teacher."

The Earthbending teacher rolled his eyes, "I have no idea what the Bei Fong's were thinking when they decided you had to come with me. I'm perfectly capable of doing this myself!"

"You're kidding me!" The smaller dirtier man said, "You take two HOURS in the morning to get ready for the day, grooming your stupid hair, and making sure there's no wrinkles in your clothes, or making sure your stupid mustache is perfect! You wouldn't even be a few miles outside of Gao Ling if it weren't for me pushing you along!"

The two sat at a table in the corner of the establishment. The air was really foggy, and was very humid; a thin layer of sweat was forming on their brows.

"Could this place get any more uncomfortable?" The richer of the two said, pulling out a cloth and patting his forehead with it.

"Master Yu?" The shorter of the two scoffed at the name, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms, "More like failure Yu."

Yu simply raised an eyebrow at that before ignoring the comment and continuing to pat his brow. A girl no older than sixteen came to their table shortly, she had a small skip to each step, and she seemed extremely happy.

"What can I get you two?" She fiddled with the lantern above the table until it became a little brighter for them to see through the thick fog forming inside the building.

"Strongest stuff ya got."

Yu's eyes widened in surprise at that, "You shouldn't get drunk now! We have an important mission to do right now if you don't remember!"

"Get him some too," He said to the girl, "He needs to loosen up."

Yu forced himself to stay calm, and decided that now was the last time he would be able to have a coherent discussing with his partner before he became too drunk to be tolerable, "So have you thought of my plan to capture the girl?"

"I dunno, you grab her or something."

"I really doubt that would work."

"Oh?" The man laughed, "You actually believe those stories that say the Avatar has a powerful Earthbender with him?"

"Toph is a very gifted girl, and from the two weeks before she went missing I knew she was holding back. We need to trap her in a cage! A metal one preferably!"

"A metal cage?" The man laughed at that, "Do you know how expensive those are?"

"What do you suggest then, Shu?"

"Wood." The man said, "It's far cheaper."

"A cage made out of wood?" Yu said, letting out a sigh, "Where can we find a cage made of wood?"

"A morgue I guess." Shu said, and he smiled when he saw the girl coming back with their drinks, "Be sure to tip her good, ok?"

Yu though couldn't get pass what Shu said right before that, and his jaw feel open, and his eyes were widening in horror.

"What?" Shu said, obviously annoyed before taking a long drink from his mug.

"A morgue?" He said.

"What of it?"

"A morgue?" He repeated again.

"Yes for spirits sake! We buy a coffin and put her in it! It's not like we're going to kill her! Sheesh!" He took another drink, "You rich folk always think the worst when it comes to us, don't ya."

Yu forced his racing heart to calm down, "The idea does have some merit to it."

"Just think. We can save probably ten times more money if we buy a coffin than if we buy a real metal cage, eh?"

Yu nodded, his greedy nature beginning to take over, "Yes, I do agree, anything to save a little money."

Shu smiled, patted his companion on the back, "Good! We'll buy one later tonight once the rain clears up! Now drink up!" Yu looked down at the mug of... whatever Shu had gotten him, and he grimaced at the smell of the stuff. Looking towards the door, and seeing the constant downpour, he finally let out a sigh and took a small sip of the stuff, and promptly spit it out across the table at his partner.

The following morning was not much of an improvement over the day before. Whereas the weather was horrid before, now it was wet, really wet. The air was extremely humid, all their clothes felt wet, and it was still sprinkling rain out there. The worst of it seem to pass however, so Aang and his friends flew on Appa down to the village to spend roughly an hour to resupply and get some money, not necessarily in that order.

"Ok Toph, you remember how you used to con people right?" Sokka said, prepping her up as they sat atop Appa.

She cracked her knuckles, and then her neck making loud and sickening noises, much to the disgust of Aang and Suki, and she smiled, "I never forget how to do that."

"Good!" Sokka said patting her on the back, "This'll be like the good old days!"

Aang forced himself to not listen to their antics anymore and again focused on the bad feeling he got from getting closer to the town. History has had a way of repeating itself several times over, but it has also changed a little bit. Regardless, did he really want to risk it? He glanced at Suki who was looking off to the side of the bison looking bored, and he reconsidered. Suki was probably right; he was probably just being paranoid.

That didn't help to ease the feeling of dread Aang was getting though.

They landed on the outskirts of town, Aang making sure to put Appa under a large enough tree so he couldn't get too wet. The terrain was a little bit muddy, and he knew Appa was going to need a bath badly wherever they went next. "We'll be right back for you boy!" Aang promised as he hugged his friend, Momo flew over and landed on top of Appa's head, "Momo will keep you company!" Appa grunted in response to that.

The four walked to town, Sokka and Toph going off on their own almost as soon as they pass the small wooden gate the village had to set its perimeters. Aang and Suki decided to just wander around together, it's not like they could do more, they were completely broke. The village looked to be pretty poor – not surprising considering the state of the world. The ruins nearby must have once been an Earth Kingdom base of operations that was long ago abandoned.

That was all speculation of course, but as Aang walked by a woman on the street begging, he began to wonder if Toph could get anything from this place.

"You're right, I think we should go." Suki said, looking around at the poor state of the village, the muddied streets, the rags people wore, the rundown houses. The two of them looked like royalty compared to this.

"Yeah," Aang sighed, "We have enough supplies to ration for a few more days until we run out of food completely."

"I'll go find Toph and Sokka, you head back to Appa."

A man suddenly bumped into Aang, "I'm so sorry!" The man said, getting up off the boy, and now helping the mud-soaked Avatar to his feet. He had a robe on, and the hood was up, covering most of his features. From what Aang could see though, the man was of average height, and was pretty strong from how much force went into his fall.

"It's fine." Aang mumbled, trying to shake the mud off his limbs, though it did little good.

"Wait, you're the Avatar!" The man said in awe when he noticed the mark Aang had. This caught people's attention, and Aang didn't even hide his frown and he groaned. Suki too noticed the attention he was receiving.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Tell me; is it true that you travel with one of the best Earthbenders in the world? One that is blind?" The man said, the awe not leaving his voice, as more people crowded around, causing a scene.

"She's one of my friends." Aang nodded, "Why?"

The man went stiff, and he paused before bowing down to the Avatar, "Very well Avatar, it seems others want to ask things of you. I won't bother you anymore." He left, leaving Aang to try and shuffle through over a dozen people. Suki did her best to help, but it wasn't doing much other than annoying the people.

The man walked off, and then he entered the Inn, a large building that was a little nicer than the rest of the village. He nodded to the Innkeeper, and went to the backrooms, and finally took his hood off as he entered his own room, "Yu! Get up! The Avatar is here!"

Master Yu was lying in a bed snoring lightly, so Shu went up and slapped the man across the face to wake him up, "Wake up!"

Yu's eyes shot open as the pain spread through him, "What?"

"The Avatar is here! I talked to him just a little bit ago, and you were right, the blind girl is as powerful as the rumors were saying! I managed to make a pretty big crowd gather around the boy, so we have a little bit of time to go set everything up to get the girl!"

"You mean to tell me that Toph is in this village, right now?" Yu sat up, eyes widening, "We have to capture her today, before she escapes on the Avatar's bison."

"I overheard the Avatar, and he plans to leave pretty soon. We have to capture her really soon, or else we won't get another golden opportunity like this again!"

Yu jumped out of his bed, and grabbed a comb, beginning to groom himself for the day. Shu noticed this, and he yanked the comb out of his companion's hand, and snapped it in two, "We have to go, now!"

"That was a very nice comb you just destroyed." Yu sighed watching sadly as the two halves fell to the floor. He snapped out of it though when Shu picked up the coffin they had placed in the corner of their room the previous night. It was a pretty small coffin, big enough for Toph and maybe another person if they were smashed in there together, but what was the chance of that happening? The two rushed out of the room and through the front door of the inn once more, confusing any bystanders that happen to come near them.

The two of them went to a small alley between two large buildings, and Yu pulled out a long length of rope from his hands, "You remember how to build it, right?" He asked Shu.

"We just need it to come down swing down from in front and behind her, closing the coffin before she has any time to react with her Earthbending, right?"

"Right," Yu said, "Now we just need to build this contraption." He looked at the height of the two buildings, and then down to the coffin, "This will take some time."

In a different part of the village, Sokka and Toph both collapsed onto a bench in defeat. Sokka didn't even take any time to consider the wealth of the village, and the lack of scams they could possibly do. There was gambling in the town, no doubt, but most of it relied on things that were far out of Toph's control, like a long, tedious, and boring game of Pai Sho.

"Aren't you supposed to be the strategist?" Toph asked, "You're supposed to evaluate things like this and save us time by saying that it's a waste of time."

He shrugged, "Hey, sometimes I can't do great all the time."

"That's an understatement."

Sokka rolled his eyes, not bothering to retort to that one for now, remembering everything Suki had told her in the past few weeks about Toph just trying to goad him into an argument.

"Is this rain ever going to stop?" Toph asked.

"It's not raining that hard, just sprinkling."

"Yeah, but I don't like the feeling of mud on my feet. It reminds me too much of water."

Sokka shrugged, having heard this confession from her before, probably a dozen other times in situations in their past life, "Is that so?" He let out, though he couldn't keep his bored tone from leaving his voice.

In retaliation she hit him on the shoulder.

"Ouch." He sighed, "Do you always have to hit so hard? It's really deceiving."

"Why?"

"Cause you're a girl." He said.

Again, another topic they had gone over at least a dozen times in their previous life. It was clear that they were both really bored at the moment. Toph didn't even say anything to Sokka when he said that, just because she knew what the ending result of the conversation would be.

"So…" Sokka said, trying to think of something, "Is Aang holding up alright with Katara not being around?"

"How would I know?" She asked.

"Can't you feel heartbeats or something?"

"Yeah, I can, but I don't know how that would help me figure out if he's doing ok. You can see him, does he look ok? He sounds ok to me."

"He looks ok I guess." Sokka said, "I mean, can you tell if he's sad or something from his heartbeat alone?"

"It depends on the situations really, but I wouldn't be able to determine what emotion he is feeling otherwise."

"What do you mean?"

"His heart beats fast whenever he and Katara got close when they first got together way back when, it also beats fast when he's fighting, and it also beats fast when he is really excited about something." She listed off, "So yeah, I wouldn't be able to help you out most of the time."

"Oh, well that sucks." Sokka mumbled.

"If you want my honest opinion though, I think Aang can handle himself. We've hammered it into his head enough that we're here for him, so I'm sure he does believe that, and we also told him a hundred times that Katara is safe. It's his own problem from here on out if he doesn't believe us."

"That's harsh."

"It's life." She countered.

"Since when have you gotten so philosophical?"

"What?"

"Never mind." Sokka sighed, "Let's just get back to Aang and get out of this place. We're not going to make any money here."

The two stood up, when suddenly a voice Toph dreaded to hear popped up, "Miss Bei Fong?"

"Master Yu?" She asked, turning towards the source of the voice.

"It is you!" He walked forth towards her, "Your parents hired me to come get you! They're worried sick that you'll hurt yourself, or even worse! Why would you do something so terrible to them like that Toph?"

"I had to."

"That's all?" Yu asked, sounding displeased.

"My parents were suffocating me; I didn't want to live like that for all my life!" Shaking her anger off, she calmly asked, "If I pay you off, will you stop chasing me?"

Yu actually considered the offer for a little bit. However, he knew that if he took it, bad press about him would go around Gao Ling, especially from Lao and Poppy Bei Fong. They surely wouldn't be happy that he accepted a bribe from their daughter, and they would let him know of it. They would stop hiring him, and his vast fortune would soon shrink from the cost of his schooling. That was a true nightmare!

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, but this is best for you."

"Look, I'm sure she has to fix the issues with her parents sometime." Sokka said, "But right now we need her to help us. She's essential to stopping the war, don't you understand?"

_Another morality question? _Yu thought. He knew that the war had been going on for a century, though he also never truly knew of it. Gao Ling was relatively unaffected by the effects the war has caused to other places like the village he was currently in. This question of his morals was easy enough – he would honor his duty to the Bei Fong family and bring their daughter back regardless of how important it was. It was an agreement of honor, and of money.

"You have to come back." He said again, not budging from his previous stance at all.

Toph groaned, and dropped into an Earthbending stance, and shortly after that Master Yu let out a shrill scream as she jutted a few rocks out of the ground towards him, and he ran began to run away.

"Well, that was effective." Sokka mumbled, watching his fleeing form.

"Yeah, I'll sa-" She stopped when a small rock hit her in the head. She turned towards Yu, and began to chase him, "You want to fight me? Then stop running you coward!"

"Toph? Toph! Wait! Toph don't run after him!" Sokka shouted, following right behind her, waving his arms frantically in an attempt to calm down the pissed off girl.

Sokka knew something was wrong when the man continued to run from them, avoiding Toph's tactics to slow him down easily enough. He knew that if Yu fought Toph head to head, he would lose, and even if they just ran like this Master Yu would still lose. There had to be more to this, and Sokka knew that he had to stop Toph before something really bad happened.

He knew yelling was useless, so he pulled out his boomerang, a weapon he had not used in quite some time, and threw it forward, his aim a little skewed so that if he was off mark, it wouldn't harm Toph. Thankfully for him, he hit his objective easily, tearing a small bit out of Toph's clothes, and it circled around in front of her, making her stop in her tracks and she turned to Sokka, and he was surprised by the intensity of the glare she was showing him, considering she was blind.

"It's a trap." Sokka said, running up to her, grabbing his boomerang from the air. He was a little behind her when suddenly he was thrust forward.

"What are you-" She was interrupted again when suddenly she felt something slam into her from the front , lifting her off her feet momentarily until she slammed right into Sokka, who let out a yelp of pain. The two of them were inside of something now, and Sokka lost his breath again when the object they were in fell to the ground, with Toph on top of him, "What's going on? Where are we?" Toph said, feeling around franticly.

Sokka felt the sides of whatever they were in with the limited room he could move in. He was really oversized for it, and he just barely fit. Toph was doing little better; she was at least able to move a fraction more than he could.

"I think its wood." Sokka said, rubbing his hand against it, "Yeah, wood."

Toph was moving around a lot more frantic now, "All of it? Are you sure it's all wood?"

"From what I can feel," Sokka said, he then tried to reach behind him to grab his sword out of his sheath, but failed, "This thing is too small! I can't reach back to my sword to cut us out!"

Toph was squirming now, "No! Not again!"

That stopped Sokka in his tracks, "Not again?"

"I was trapped like this before, but it was a metal cage. That is how I learned Metalbending, so I could escape that."

"I don't suppose Woodbending is a form of Earthbending?" She elbowed him hard, "Ok, ok, sorry!"

"This is bad." She mumbled.

Sokka tried in vain to reach his sword, and that is when he felt something knocking on the top of the wooden prison they were in, "Hello? Toph? How are you?"

"You got the wrong person!" Sokka shouted.

"Oh?" Yu voice said in surprise, "Well, in that case let me open this up and let you out." They could feel him begin to shift the top for them to get out, but his hands were ripped away from the top.

"Are you a moron? Did you not see that kid with the boomerang chasing her?"

"Oh?" Master Yu then laughed, "Oh, very sneaky!"

"I'm friends with the Avatar!" Sokka shouted, "You have to let us out now! It's essential to saving the world that we get out of here now." He tried not to sound too desperate.

"Nope." Shu said, tying a rope around the coffin, "You're going right back to Gao Ling."

"Gao Ling?" Sokka whispered, "That's almost two months away at least! You can't take us there! We have to leave now! Do you two really want to set the Avatar back from saving the world, or is your greed really that strong."

If possible, Toph have slapped her forehead, and told Sokka it was pointless, but the men told him the exact same thing.

"This is bad." Sokka said.

"You think?" Toph sighed.

"If I could only reach my sword!" He tried again, and groaned when he couldn't.

Toph was in even more of a panic than Sokka was however, "I can't see anything! Why is it wood this time around?"

"I don't know. Are they the same people who tried to capture you last time?"

"I remember Yu is one of them, but I don't recognize the second guy."

The two struggled in vain for a little longer as they were pulled along town, unable to get out no matter what they did. Soon, they stopped trying, and Sokka sighed, "We have to wait for Aang to save us."

"What if he doesn't find us?"

"He will." Sokka said, "Don't worry." He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, one of the few things he could do in the crammed coffin. Yu and Shu left the village almost immediately, getting on a cart, and having two ostrich horses pull them along on their journey back home.

Aang finally got away from the crowd, and let out a sigh of relief as he and Suki ran away, despite several dozen more people chasing after them. Suki grabbed his hand and led him through several alleys, and soon enough, the two had lost the crowd. Letting out a breath they didn't know they were holding, the two slid down the side of the building they were by and sat down on the muddied ground, not caring if their clothes got even more disgusting than they were beforehand.

Suki let out a sigh, "Don't you have a hood you can wear or something?"

"No, but I will have to buy one when we get the money." Suki nodded her agreement.

"Where's Sokka and Toph? You think they would've found us by now."

"I don't know." Aang said, "That crowd was around us for a long time."

"Well, let's go look for them." Suki shrugged, getting up off the ground, and helping Aang to his feet.

Aang didn't mention it, but the feeling of dread was slowly creeping its way back into him. The two wandered around the village for about an hour, being careful to avoid the villagers, and being sure to hide under cover when the storm started to act up again. Another hour passed, and their frantic searched turned even more so.

"Where are they?" Suki nearly shouted when she and Aang met under the cover of another house in the village, being sure to avoid the rain.

Aang could clearly see the worry etched on her face, she was biting her bottom lip and she was blinking quite a bit. He hoped that he looked more confident than how he was feeling, "Maybe they went to Appa?" He suggested.

Grabbing onto that thin line of hope, the two made their way towards the gate of the town, both of them quite soaked and feeling more miserable than they had for weeks. As they went towards the gates, they could see groups of people gathering randomly around the gate, usually in groups of four or more. Aang eyed them warily, and knew Suki was doing the same.

"Who are they?" She whispered to him.

"I don't know." Aang whispered back, his eyes never leaving them.

As if someone was waiting for him to say that line, an arrow imbedded itself into the mud in front of him, coming from behind. Aang looked at the arrow, and knew immediately what was going on. Suki on the other hand, looked at it in confusion, and turned to see a lone figure on a rooftop with a bow and arrow, quickly preparing another arrow. She looked back forward, and the four groups of four men each turned towards them, their own bows drawn and ready to shoot.

As they fired, Aang grabbed Suki and pulled her aside and he made a bubble of air around the two, sending all the arrows off into different directions, inside the bubble Aang turned to her, "When this goes down, run!" She nodded.

The bubble of air didn't last long, but its purpose was done. When it dropped, the two children inside bolted towards the gate, Aang using his staff to knock some of the archers aside, but more often than not the attack was dodged, and an arrow followed soon after. The entrance to the village was then blocked, by another group of archers who got in front and aimed at the two of them. With their escape blocked, Aang turned towards the village.

"We need to go find cover; we're sitting ducks out here!" Suki shouted as the two ran into the village, arrows dotting behind them.

When the villagers saw the men shooting the Avatar with arrows, panic began to arise within the village. People were screaming, and locking their doors shut, looking out their windows to catch a glimpse of the Avatar and to see who even dared to attack him. The streets which weren't even crowded to begin with due to the weather were now completely empty, sparing any civilians the wrath of the Yu Yan Archers.

Aang went to turn a corner, but the back of his shirt was caught by an arrow, and he was pinned to the wall of a house. He reached back for it, but immediately bended a wall of rock in front of him to stop an onslaught of arrows coming for him. He then tried again to reach for it, and as the rock wall crumbled down, another wave or arrows came at him.

Suki drew her fans and knocked a few of the arrows out of the air, and quickly pulled the one out of Aang's clothes so they could run again. She couldn't hit every arrow, due to the fact that it was immensely difficult to do so, and also the weather made it even more difficult to spot the arrows coming at them. The only good spot was that the downpour was also making the archer's job much more difficult.

"Come on!" She tugged Aang through the town, and from the corners of her eyes she could see the archers running parallel to her and Aang, except they were on the roof tops. Aang was constantly shooting air at them, and even bending the rain a few times to form an ice shield to block a few of the oncoming projectiles. Suki meanwhile would occasionally hit an arrow with her fans, and the other times she was more focused on pulling Aang and herself out of the way of the arrows, dodging them whenever she could.

"Don't they EVER run out of arrows?" Aang shouted, looking back at them.

She looked back too, and saw a few stay back and pick the arrows off the field where they missed the two of them quite a bit.

"I don't think so." She said.

This was bad. Really bad she decided. Had these men taken Sokka and Toph? She forced herself to stop thinking about it for now, and instead, she patted Aang on the shoulder before she ran to the side and began to climb up a building. She grabbed the ledge of the window, and flipped upward onto the roof. Facing several of the archers, she ran towards them and dodged the arrows, though one just narrowly missed her shoulder. With her fans she sliced forward, cutting a few of their bows, and arrows, hopefully making it even more difficult for them to fight back.

Unfortunately, they were prepared for this possibility, and they pulled out several swords that looked vaguely like Sokka's. She deflected a few hits with her fans, but an archer on a different roof shot one of her fans out of her hand, sending it sailing through the air to fall into the muddy ground below. She growled, but yelped when one of the men knocked her other fan out of her hand sending it away too. She glared at them as she pulled out the katana she had bought back in Omashu.

Now she was regretting not doing as many sword lessons with Sokka. She was constantly dodging the arrows, and had to contend with several men who were just superior to her in sword fighting. Knowing that she couldn't do anything else there, she jumped down, and ran through the alleyways of the town, hoping Aang was doing just fine.

Aang ran, letting out a small shout of terror as he heard the sound of an arrow imbedding itself into wood. He could even occasionally feel the splinters from the wood hit his back. They were all narrow misses. He patted himself down, _where is it? _He searched the pockets you usually kept his bison whistle in, but then his heart skipped a beat, _No! I don't have it! _He knew at that moment that he was in quite a bit of trouble.

Suki ran into him then, and the two darted down another alley way. The alleys were starting to look all the same to them, but that didn't matter as the constant barrage of arrows continued.

"When did you get a sword?" Aang asked.

"I've had it."

"Ah."

"Just never used it."

"Oh."

"How are we getting out of here?" She asked. With the Katana, hitting arrows was out of the question. The most she could do now was just run and hope for the best.

"Maybe we can glide out of here?"

"They'd shoot you out of the air."

"I could dig underground!"

"It would take too long."

"Maybe we could just rush them at the gate and hope for the best?"

Suki considered the option, and sighed, "It's our only choice now."

The two of them did just that, turning at the latest alley, they came back to where the entire chase started, and the two made their way to the gate. They could see several men still guarding it, and they all drew their bows and loaded them with an arrow. Aang got in front and sent a large wave of wind towards them with a huge arc of his staff. The wind fortunately got them off their footing enough that they couldn't shoot.

Suki and Aang made it out the front gate and were running in the woods, "Appa!" Aang shouted, hoping that he was close enough.

An arrow went sailing and imbedded into the fabric right above Suki's arm. She struggled to get the arrow out, and turned to Aang, "Get out of here! I'll hold them off!"

She ripped her clothing where the arrow was imbedded so she could get out, but it was a useless gesture, because in the few seconds it took her to do that, several arrows came and pinned her to the tree, making her drop the katana to the ground was a soft clang as it hit the roots of the tree. She looked back and saw that Aang had tried to help her, but was also pinned.

"No! Let us go!" She shouted as her captors came over to her. The last thing she was before she was knocked out was a one of the men picking up her katana.

It had been hours, and Sokka was finished trying to grab his sword, "Let us out!" He shouted through the coffin, hoping that the men would do so.

"Shut up! Don't you ever get tired of yelling kid?" Shu yelled, smacking the coffin a few times, "You'll be let go once get to the Bei Fong Estate, so hold your ostrich horses and wait until then!"

Toph was being oddly quiet, and Sokka whispered to her, "Are you all right?"

"Shouldn't they have come by now?" She asked, "It's been a long time… Do you think something bad happened to them?"

"No." He mumbled, "Nothing bad could have happened to them…" He remembered what Aang had said; about the last time he was there got taken out by some archers. He knew that it had happened again, he knew that he was in trouble.

Toph could tell he was lying, and sat there trying not to think of what was happening to Aang. It was something that she and Sokka could do nothing about.

"Aang! Thank the spirits you're awake!"

Aang slowly opened his eyes, but closed them again; the lights in the room he was in were incredibly bright. He went to rub his eyes, but felt that his arms were stuck where they were. Mumbling incoherently, and looked over to see that his arms were chained at the wrist. He blinked a few times, before the memories of what had happened came flooding back into him. His eyes widened, and he looked over towards Suki.

She was chained to two posts on either side of her, just like he was, and they were both chained in the center of a very large room with no other decorations, except that Aang's staff and her katana were hanging on the wall near the door to the room.

"We were captured." Aang whispered to himself, "No, no, no!"

"Aang, calm down!"

"No, why is everything being repeated? We keep doing the same things over again! How can things change if they keep repeating like this?" Suki watched as the almost always positive and energetic Aang began to break down right there. After losing Katara, losing Sokka and Toph, and then being captured, she didn't blame him; she felt that she could do the same at any moment. She had to be strong though, or else they wouldn't be able to escape.

"Aang, please, focus!" She said, but he didn't even listen to her, she wanted to go comfort him, to say that things weren't as bad as they seemed, but that was impossible, because things were far worse than they seemed.

"We're failing…"

"No, we're not. We just need to escape."

"How?" Aang asked, looking over at her helplessly, "there's nothing that can be done…" He slumped forward.

Suki forced herself not to cry out in both anger and sadness at how defeated Aang looked at that moment. Instead, she opted to try and struggle out of the chains that were on her wrists, but it was useless, they were far too strong. She looked up when the door opened, and her she felt like she couldn't breathe when she saw who stepped in.

"I told you I would eventually capture you Avatar." Zhao said, entering the room alone. The door closed behind him with a threatening boom.

They both stayed silent. Suki instead just glared at him, and Aang was too broken at the moment to do much of anything except mope around.

"To be honest, I thought capturing the Avatar would prove to be more difficult than hiring a bunch of guys with bows and arrows, but who am I to judge? You're just a kid after all." He noticed that Aang was completely ignoring him. This irritated Zhao, so he switched gears, "I wonder, how did it feel when I burned that Water Tribe girl?" He smiled when he noticed Aang's involuntary shake of his head at the mention of her.

"What was her name? Kaya? Katori? Katara?" He smiled, "Oh, yes, that's it. Katara."

Suki watched as Aang gritted his jaw tightly, "Don't listen to him Aang!"

"She was probably one of my favorite prisoners to torture you know." Zhao said off-handedly, checking his nails the entire time as if he had no care, though his gaze was on Aang, watching for any reaction, "She was very resistant at first, but in the end, she was begging for you, calling out your name through her tears."

_Did he get lessons from Azula? _Suki thought, "Aang, he's lying."

Aang knew he was lying. He knew Zuko had Katara. Yet, that hit home, he was all ready battered, all ready broken, what was with the Fire Nation and making him feel like complete trash in the end, "I'll kill you Zhao." Aang vowed again, the words again sounding foreign on his tongue. He meant it though. He would kill Zhao if he ever escaped. He never knew the man could be this awful, though it took a man like this to kill the moon spirit he supposed.

"I'd like to see you try. Though that does bring me to the next topic other than your dead girlfriend," He stood up straighter, "Your execution is being prepared right now. In three days you both will be dead."

"He'll just reincarnate and start the whole cycle over again!" Suki shouted at him.

"A Waterbender?" Zhao laughed at that, "I considered the possibilities of that, but then again, there's only the North Pole left that's even a remote threat against the Fire Nation. They will soon be dealt with if I get my way however. While I do admit that keeping you here for a century as you watch the world be conquered by our great nation is a tempting idea, killing you is so much more satisfying."

"You're a sick person." Suki said, disgusted by the man in front of them.

Aang didn't say any words; instead he took a deep breath, and blew Zhao straight across the room in the door, knocking his head against the door. Zhao stood up and stomped over to Aang and punched him in the gut, "Do that again, and I will dismember you."

Aang gasped for breath, but only glared at Zhao.

Zhao turned back around and left the room, leaving the two to contemplate their fate. Suki watched at Aang slumped forward again, his eyes glossed over. She didn't know what to do, so she slumped forward and silently prayed for anyone to come help them.

**Chapter twelve – End**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter thirteen**

"Where are we going?" Azula asked her brother on the bridge of his ship. The girl sat down across from Zuko on the table set up there for Pai Sho, a few maps were spread out across the table, otherwise, Zuko just tried to keep his composure in front of his sister. He had vivid memories of how she acted in the future, she was ruthless, and she hunted them down like no one else ever did. She was always a step ahead. She was a murderous, insane, psychotic bitch.

However, he also had fresh memories of when she was a child, the two of them got along very well until the rivalry between the two of them sparked when their father got in the way. He remembered confiding in his mother to be around, slowly alienating himself from his far superior sister, and he watched in disdain as his sister got all the glory, becoming the favorite child of his father. He watched her become distant, and he knew it was his fault for allowing it to get that way. However, there was nothing he could do now.

The conflicting emotions rolled and tumbled around within, mimicking the storm that was going on outside the ship.

"Are you going to answer me, or are you just going to sit there and be quiet all day?" She asked, getting slightly peeved by Zuko's uncaring attitude.

"I heard a rumor that the Avatar is further inland. We've stayed docked here for the storm for the pass few days, and we'll leave first thing in the morning, hopefully once the storm passes over."

"A sound plan." She said, folding her fingers so she could lean her head onto them.

"What do you want?" He said, knowing he sounded aggravated.

"I haven't seen you in years. I figured you would be happy to see me." She smiled at that.

"You watched me get banished with a smile. You watched me get this scar with that sadistic smile you always have on your face. We never get along, we never work together. What was father thinking sending you here to me?"

"He's suspicious of you." She answered for him. He looked at her, "What? It's just the truth dear brother, we can confide in each other since we _are _siblings."

_Azula always lies. _He repeated in his mind. The phrase had never left him, even after all those years of running he had repeated it over and over. She would tell him about how she tortured one of his friends, and that horrible smile would always be on her face. The one she was using right now!

"What are you thinking about?" She asked, pointing out his fists, which were tightening to the point that they were turning white. He let out a small breath and released his hands.

_I know she's here to spy on me. That much is true. _He thought, looking at her again, "I'm going to my room."

"To the Water Tribe girl? Can I come with you? I would love to meet your guest."

"No."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Just no Azula." He said, leaving the bridge before he burst. Just seeing her made him about to snap. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to face her in combat, or he would probably not hold back as he wiped that horrible smile off her face.

He walked down the stairs and into the hallway, making it to his room. He entered and quickly shut the door before looking up, seeing his uncle sitting at the side of the bed with Katara. They seem to only be talking. When he entered the discussion halted for a second, before Iroh moved aside so Zuko could join in.

"Your friend was just telling me how Azula acted in your previous life."

"She's a horrible person." Zuko mumbled, "We should deal with her now."

"What?" Both Katara and Iroh said, not expecting that to come from him.

"She was our biggest threat. Now she's here. We could take her out, and effectively stop over half of the things that happened I the future. If she wasn't around Ba Sing Se wouldn't have fallen, Aang wouldn't have died, and the invasion would have gone as planned! She is a thorn in our side, and she had to be removed soon."

"Zuko, I don't think murdering her is the right thing to do." Iroh said.

"It might not be, but it's the smart thing to do."

"Zuko! You can't say that, she's your sister. We have to try and help her this time!"

"Are you serious?" Zuko said, looking at her in disbelief, "You must have merged more with your child side than I thought you did if you're acting this naïve." She looked offended at that, and was about to tell him off, but he stopped her, "She has been taught by my father for over seven years now. There's no hope for saving her."

"There's always hope." Iroh said, "And I think rushing in to kill her is a foolish idea. However, trying to help her may be out of the realm of possibility."

"So what do you suggest?" Katara asked, crossing her arms. Her question was directed towards Iroh, but she didn't let up on the glare she was sending Zuko. For the most part, Zuko simply ignored it.

"For now, she is where we want her to be. She's in our hands, whether she knows it or not." Iroh said, "She won't try anything stupid, though if I know her as well as I think I do, I know that she probably already believes that Zuko is a traitor. She is just looking for evidence to back up that claim." He sighed, "While I won't deny that outright getting her out of the picture would prove to be beneficial in the short term, I think it would end up making my brother use everything in his power to hunt you down Zuko, since he would know that you were the one who carried out the act, or he would think you did. Either way, it doesn't end well for you."

Both children sighed at that.

"Fine." Zuko mumbled, "We keep her for now. If she steps out of line though, I don't know what I will do."

"I trust you to do the right thing." Iroh said, patting his nephew on the back, he stood up and walked towards the door, "I'm going to the bridge, maybe challenge a few men to a game of Pai Sho."

When his uncle left the room, Zuko watched as Katara grabbed a book Iroh had bought for her from the market the other day, and she started to read it, completely ignoring Zuko.

"I'm sorry I called you naïve." He said, knowing that was why she was ignoring him. She continued to ignore him though, so he just rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, and this is in no way childish."

"Do you want anything?" She sighed lowering the book she'd gotten.

"Not really. Just came to tell you that tomorrow morning we're leaving the ship to go to a nearby town. I heard rumors in the market the other day that the Avatar is heading this way. So that's where we're going."

She nodded and went back to reading, and Zuko walked out of the room, heading back to the bridge to face Azula. Thankfully his uncle would be there to keep her in check however. Though the thought wasn't entirely comfortable, he trudged on, heading back to the bridge as slowly as he possibly could go.

The next day the constant downpour had stopped, but it was still very dreary outside. Even though it looked like it might actually rain again, Zuko trudged onward, having bought a wagon to put some supplies into, including food, water, some clothes, and his Dao swords among other things. Two ostrich horses were at the front pulling it along, making them able to get to their destination that much quicker.

When the crew was told that they would have another few days off, they were understandably excited, and were eager to see the others off the ship. Azula decided to go with them, though she demanded that she stay in the wagon at all times so she wouldn't have to walk at all. Since there wasn't nearly enough room in the wagon for pretty much anyone, Zuko had to carry some of the supplies himself to abide by his spoiled sister's wish.

Katara was also coming along. She had handcuffs on, putting her hands behind her back so she couldn't do any Waterbending. It was mostly an act, since she could actually easily bend water, but no one other than Iroh and Zuko knew that, and they didn't want Azula to get the impression that Katara was a bigger threat than she acted. They had no idea how Azula would react to that, so they decided to just not have the situation ever arise.

Surprisingly Iroh had come along too, saying he wanted to smell the fresh air. No one believed the excuse, why would anyone want to be outside during this kind of weather? Regardless, he was not questioned at all, and he walked along side his nephew and Katara, while his niece sat comfortably inside the wagon.

"Tell me Zuzu, why would you bring the Water Tribe girl with you?" Azula asked, leaning back with her arms folded behind her head.

"She's a bargaining chip. The Avatar will do as I ask as long as she's in my possession."

Azula nodded, "Not a bad plan, really." She said, "Just as long as you don't actually plan on following through with it."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.

"I mean, once you get the Avatar in your grasp, just kill her. It'd be one less person to work against the Fire Nation, right?" Zuko couldn't see her, but he knew she had that predatory grin covering her face.

"That wouldn't be honorable."

She laughed, "Honor, honor, honor. That's all you ever worry about. This is the Avatar, I'm sure you can have a little leeway when it comes to this."

"I know you'd never understand, but I value not being untrustworthy, even to my enemies." Zuko said, getting a little heated from what his younger sister was saying.

Katara was just listening, trying not to react in any way as she walked next to Iroh. She couldn't say she was surprised by what Azula was saying, but it didn't stop her from getting sick from what she was saying. She had lived in a time when Azula had tried anything to hunt them down. Azula wasn't above using hostages; she wasn't above killing innocents to get a rise out of them. She knew the girl did all of those, and she was again thankful for the merge for taking all the rough edges out of her memory of those things.

However, hearing her speak of killing her still frightened her, and it reminded her of the time when Azula killed Aang back in Ba Sing Se. That memory was still etched into her mind, and it was the pinnacle example of how little honor Azula truly had, attacking an opponent who wasn't prepared to fight was the lowest low, yet Azula had no difficulties in doing the atrocious acts.

She let out a small breath, and was thankful when Iroh spoke up, stopping either sibling from saying anything else.

"Azula, Zuko is right. Killing her would be most unwise. You do not know what the Avatar is capable of when provoked."

"I've read the stories of Roku," She said, "But if you insist, I won't say anything else, uncle."

Just hearing her call him that set Zuko off, "Don't call him that." He snapped.

"Oh? But he is, isn't he?"

"Not to you."

"And why is that Zuzu?"

Zuko was about to go off and explain how she was a murderous, and horrible person, but it died on his tongue. _She hasn't done all of those yet. _She might be too far gone to Ozai now, but she still didn't have any blood on her hands yet, not that she wouldn't be willing to get any of them. Regardless, he couldn't tell her things that she hadn't done for reasons that she couldn't call him her uncle.

However, she was the one who killed him. He had a reason to hate her… Yet, he couldn't hold this against her. Wondering again if it was his past self that was making him sympathetic towards his sister, he sighed, "Forget it."

"Just like you to back off when you realize your opposition is stronger than you." She smirked.

"That is enough Azula!" Iroh said.

She glared at him, but otherwise didn't say anything else. Instead she just looked back up at the sky, and felt a raindrop hit her face.

"We need to put the canopy over the supplies now." Zuko said, "Come on."

Reaching into the wagon, he and Iroh set it up. Katara was unable to help due to her currently being cuffed, and Azula refused to help because she wanted nothing to do with her brother. Minutes later the rain started again, drenching them all in the element. Katara was the only one who seemed to relish the feeling of it beating down on her. She could easily escape now if she wanted. The plan didn't require her to run off though, so she just silently walked alongside both Zuko and Iroh, with Azula sitting under the now covered supplies, keeping herself dry.

They made it to the town a about eight later, the rain still having not let up. They entered through the front gates, and saw that the gate had several holes in it, with wood chips sticking out of it, as if someone grabbed a knife and stabbed at the one spot for a little while. They went in despite the less than welcoming hole they saw, and rented two rooms at the inn with the money they had. Azula again demanded to have her own room, leaving the other three to share the other room.

Zuko opened the door, and would have slammed it shut behind him if his uncle and Katara weren't coming through it at that moment.

"She's difficult." Iroh said, "I don't remember her acting quite like that the last time I saw her."

"Father spoiled her." Zuko said, grinding his teeth, "She gets everything she wants, and if you try to say no, she just gets it anyway."

"I almost wish we were fighting her again," Katara said, rubbing her wrists as Iroh took the cuffs off her, "She's a royal pain in the butt to travel with."

"We should just take her out." Zuko said, more to himself than to the others.

It didn't matter though, because Iroh patted him on the back, "We've been down this before Zuko, no use in bringing it up once more." With that the conversation ended, and he went to lie down on one of the beds in the room. It was late, so he just grabbed a pillow and went to lay down on the couch outside in the hallway, leaving the bed for Katara. She silently thanked him with a nod of her head as he headed out to sleep for the night, and he hoped that they would find some trace of the Avatar and his friends the next day.

Zuko awoke early the next morning, much earlier than usual. He wished he had something to tell the time at that moment, but the inn had no such devices for him to use – sometimes he really missed the conveniences that the advanced technology the Fire Nation brought him. He slowly sat up and stretched his body, feeling better as he cracked his arms, and quickly shifting his head from one side to another to crack his neck. With that accomplished, he got up and rolled his shoulders, looking around the hallway.

The Inn was cheap, being only one floor, and only having four rooms for guests to sleep in. The town was desperately poor, so people coming by to sleep were a rarity here. Occasionally a wandering person would come and rent a room, but otherwise the rooms were more often than not vacant. The front of the Inn had several tables; where in the morning the family who owned the place would cook some breakfast and share it with their guests, and if not, eat it for themselves.

Knowing that, Zuko stood up, and hoped that he would be able to eat, but he didn't hold his breath, from the looks of it, it was too early for anyone to even be up. The sun hadn't even risen up above the mountain tops yet. He walked down the hall and opened the door to the front of the Inn, and sighed, seeing that the tables were empty and there one no one else in the room. Zuko felt his eyes go downcast, and he wandered to a table to sit down. He crossed his arms, and closed his eyes, maybe hoping to get some rest, but he didn't expect to hear the sound of someone crying outright near him.

His eyes shot open, and he looked around, and saw the nice woman that provided them the room and gave them their key crying uncontrollably. How had he missed her? Did he fall asleep for a little bit? He wanted to ignore the girl and go back to resting, but he knew from her continued sobs, and from the fact that he couldn't possibly leave her alone as reasons to go talk to the woman. He stood up, and very reluctantly walked over to her.

"Hello, are you all right?" He tried not to grimace at what he said, _oh yeah, she's JUST fine!_

She looked up, her eyes were puffy and red, she then looked away to try and compose herself, "I'm sorry, you're waiting for food? We'll be serving in another hour."

_Well that sucks. _Zuko groaned in his mind, however he shook his head, "No, what is making you cry? Maybe I can help you?"

"I doubt anyone can help us anymore?"

_Us? _"What are you talking about?"

"There's a new post on the bulletin board in the middle of town…" At this she started to cry again, "I- It says that the Avatar has been captured…" She cried again, though this time she held her composure a little more and didn't completely break down.

Zuko however was looking at her with his eyes wide, and his jaw had dropped open. He moved his mouth, but the words refused to come out. He tried to speak again, but still, nothing was coming out. He felt his breathing pick up, and he took a seat next to the woman, afraid that he would collapse from shock.

"It happened in this very town two days ago," She cried, "He fought these men who used their bow and arrows, and had this paint on their face."

_The Yu Yan Archers. _Zuko nodded, and finally found his voice, though his throat suddenly felt very dry, "Did the sign say anything else?"

"It says the Avatar is going to be executed tonight…" At this she began to cry again, unable to compose herself this time.

Zuko didn't even hear it, it felt as if the world just stopped existing right there. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, and he couldn't see. The pure shock was overwhelming him, and he knew that he was in a horrible nightmare then… right? He closed his eyes tightly, and opened them quickly, knowing that is usually how the nightmares went away when he realized that he was dreaming, but it worked to no avail.

"No." He said, denying it, "Is the post still up?"

She nodded, and Zuko bolted out the door right when she did so. He knew where it was roughly, and so he made his way to the front of the town, and looked at the board near the gates. On it sure enough was a picture of Aang, and next to his body, written in kanji was 'Captured! Tonight the Fire Nation will assure victory in this war with the execution of the Avatar!' It went on, but Zuko read the first line over and over again.

_What is going on? Why is Zhao killing him this time? What did we change? _His questions proved to have no answers he could give, and his eyes wandered to the holes in the gate, and he slapped his head, _That's what those were! I'm so stupid! _He berated himself. He knew however, that something needed to be done. Tonight… He had the entire day to get to where the execution was happening. He knew where the Archers trained at, the fortress, Pohuai Stronghold. He had to get to work now, he would reach it by nightfall on foot, and by then it might even be too late!

He went to go get his Dao Swords to go do it, and a nauseating wave of déjà vu hit him. He fell to his knees, and he remembered when he did this in the past. The same exact thing happened, Aang was captured. The last time he was captured though Zhao wasn't going to kill him, just hold him there for his entire life. Again Zuko asked himself what happened to change Zhao's belief that he had to kill Aang to again no answers.

"I need to get Katara and uncle's opinion." He decided, bringing himself back to his feet after the wave of nausea passed. He stumbled back into the inn, still feeling slightly dizzy from all the thoughts swirling in his mind, and he entered the room with Katara and Iroh in it. He walked over to Katara and gently shook her awake, "Katara, wake up!"

"Not now Sokka, I don't want to go fishing today…" She mumbled in her sleep, turning away from Zuko, who was eyeing her oddly before shaking his head.

"Now is not the time for games Katara." He said, shaking her a lot more violently, easily getting her to wake up. Her eyes opened quickly and she immediately sat up. Looking around frantically, she saw Zuko, and narrowed her eyes at him. "Not, now!" Zuko hissed, making her recoil a bit, her glare shifting to a genuine look of confusion.

"What is it?" She asked, rubbing her eyes, and getting out of bed, knowing that if Zuko wanted her to get up, she were getting up no matter what, "What time is it."

Zuko ignored the questioning, and went and woke up his uncle, who sat on the edge of his bed still very groggy.

"What is it Prince Zuko." Iroh grumbled, "I don't do well during the day if I don't get enough sleep." He looked outside the window of their room and sighed, "The sun is just rising…"

"That doesn't matter." Zuko snapped, getting both Katara and Iroh's attention, "Aang has been captured!"

Katara stood up immediately at this and grabbed Zuko's shoulders, "What? Are you sure?"

Zuko nodded, "Yes, I read it this morning! That's not the worst part though, he's going to be executed tonight." There was no sound, everyone too shocked to speak. Zuko was breathing heavily, Iroh blinked a few times, unsure what to make of the new development other than to say that it was bad at the moment, and Katara had the same reaction Zuko did earlier that day, her jaw fell open, and her eyes widened.

"What?" Katara whispered, after regaining from her shock.

"Yes! I know it's true!" He cried out, "The Avatar is captured, and he's going to be killed tonight! We have to save him!"

"Do you know where he is?" Katara asked.

"Yes! I know exactly where he is, he's at Pohuai Stronghold. It's about a seven hour hike from here – we have to leave immediately."

"Now Zuko," Iroh said, "Think rationally! If you just go trying to bust into that place, you are destined to fail."

'Where was Sokka?" Katara mumbled, pacing around the room, "Suki and Toph? Where were they? They're supposed to protect Aang from these things!"

"The Yu Yan Archers are ruthless." Zuko said shaking his head, taking a seat on the bed she had slept in, "They might have captured them as well."

"Then we have to save them." Katara said.

"I did the same thing last time." Zuko muttered loud enough so the other two could hear, "Aang was captured so I disguised myself as the Blue Spirit and went to save him. Zhao found out that I helped him that day and tried to have me killed."

"So this is everything repeating?" She asked in a sick voice, "No, it can't be."

"It went almost exactly like this. I heard Zhao had captured Aang, so I went to save him. Last time there were some differences, the biggest being the Zhao wasn't going to kill Aang, but it still stands. We have to get him out of there, and unlike last time, we don't have any time to do it. We have to go tonight."

"That there's no disagreement about." Iroh said slowly, "But you say you were discovered. Maybe it's wise that someone else were to go." His eyes were on Katara.

"Her? Did you forget she just recovered from nearly getting killed?"

"You claim that events from the previous life yours have been repeating! Is it not wise to send someone else who is equally as qualified as you to go do it?" Iroh asked calmly, though he was very firm on his stance on the issue.

Zuko stopped to think about it, and initially wanted to deny it and disregard his uncles advice on what to do on the issue. He knew that was selfish though, and he opened his mouth to agree with him, but suddenly found it harder to speak, and the idea of himself going was even greater than before. He felt a weight on his chest, and he opened his mouth and closed it a few more times. He had to overpower the overwhelming feeling of doing it himself.

"T- That…" He gasped out, "Ok. I agree." He said quickly, feeling the weight go off his chest, and he suddenly found himself able to breathe easy again. _What was that? _He thought to himself as he recovered from the weird feeling. Katara gave him an odd look, but Iroh ignored it complete, and nodded as he smiled.

"Good." Iroh said, and he then stood up, "I have to go deal with something right now. Zuko, get her prepared to do this immediately."

Zuko nodded, and stood up, "Come on Katara, you need to get some dark blues to wear." The two were out of the room and down the hall in seconds.

Iroh watched from his position, and went out of the room as well, but unlike his nephew, he didn't leave right away, he instead went down the other way in the hall, and snuck up to Azula's room. He slowly opened the door, and quickly backed away as a wave of blue fire shot at him, burning the door, and narrowly missing her uncle.

"I knew you were a traitor to the Fire Nation!" She spat out, glaring at her uncle.

"What are you talking about?" Iroh asked.

"Why do you think I wanted the room adjacent to yours? The walls of this building are flimsy at best, and I could hear almost everything you were saying." She said, raising her arms, ready to fight her uncle, "And now I will end you both!" She remembered that she was supposed to send a letter to her father first, but she stored that away. She could kill them, _then _send the letter to her father. It's not like he would know the difference.

She knew her uncle was more skilled than her, but she relied on the fact that he was her uncle. She knew he wouldn't dare to try and go all out on her, in fear that he would hurt his niece. She would use the old man's one weakness against him, and it will kill him. She smiled at that, and walked forward to her uncle.

"Are you prepared to die then?"

"Not really." Iroh sighed, "Azula, take a look at this path before you."

"Spare me your advice uncle. It may have worked on my weak willed brother, but it certainly won't work on me."

"I see my brother's grasp on you is far stronger than I initially realized." Iroh muttered, "Perhaps Zuko was right about you."

She narrowed her eyes at that, watching as Iroh walked into her room and bended the blue fire to die down before it spread to the rest of the building. He sat down on her bed and looked at her. Her curiosity won the internal war inside of her, and she cautiously asked, "What did he say about me?"

"He said that you are a horrible person, and that my brother made you into a murderous monster." She inhaled sharply at that. Oh, her brother would know what kind of monster she truly was when she was finished with him!

Iroh watched the reaction, and smiled, "You're not, am I right Azula?"

"You're right." She said slowly, wondering how she could turn this to her advantage. Deciding bring up his brother she said, "The proper Fire Lord has taught me all I know. I'm going to be the next Fire Lord once he steps down."

"The Fire Lord never steps down." Iroh noted, "The past few have died in the position. So you might as well wait another fifty years."

She frowned when that did nothing to faze her uncle. She finally opted to fight him, "Whatever you say uncle! I will-"

She was surprised when Iroh beat her to the punch, standing up and send a small ball of fire at her. She dodged out of the way as quickly as she could, but it completely destroyed her stance, having not expecting that, and she stumbled around as she tried to regain her proper footing. _No, no, no! I can't be messing up! This is a novice mistake! Something Zuko would do! _With that inside of her, her rage fueled, in turn powering her Firebending even more.

She wouldn't let her father down! She lashed out to strike at her uncle again, but this time he was all ready in front of her, having done so when she didn't even realize it, and he knocked her out with a well timed and placed punch on the neck. She collapse into a small heap on the ground, having greatly underestimated her uncle, expecting him to have plenty of openings to exploit.

And it would have worked if Zuko hadn't warned his uncle about all the underhand tactics she used. Iroh knelt down to the unconscious girl after cutting off the oxygen flow from the flames in the room, and picked her up, putting her on the bed, and sitting next to it. She would be out of it for the entire day thankfully, so he had plenty of time to rest. It was now up to Zuko and Katara to save the Avatar and their friends from the horrible fate that awaited them.

"Come on, this place has to have some dark blues, and if not, some dark blue dye!" Zuko said as he ran through the village looking around frantically. Many shops were still closed, and he was afraid that maybe most would stay like that the entire day in mourning the Avatar. He was mentally cursing himself for not bringing his own clothes for stealth, he truly had not expected to use them, and now it was costing him dearly.

Katara ran behind him easily keeping up with the pace he set, she too was panicking, her eyes darting all around. After a small bit the two stopped and stood in a small circle in the middle of the village where many villagers were now gathered since the sun had risen a great deal now, providing more than enough light. The gossip all around them was about the Avatar's capture.

Zuko went up to a random person, and turned him around interrupting the conversation he was having with his friend, "Where's a clothing store?"

"It's closed for today." The man said, turning back around to talk with his friend, but Zuko again grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, "What?"

"Where is it?"

"I told you, it's closed!"

"We need to get clothes desperately." Zuko said.

"Your current ones look fine to me." The man said, but then he sighed, "If you have to, go across the village that way, and take a left turn, first building on your right on the left turn." The man said, pointing northward for the two children. Zuko quickly thanked him and the two darted off to the store.

On the way, Zuko stepped on something that was half buried in the dirt road, and he knelt down to pick it up. To his shock, it was one of Suki's fans. He lifted it up so Katara could see it, and she grabbed it and looked at it, "Suki would never lose these intentionally."

Zuko noted a small hole where an arrow must have pierced through the fan, "She lost it in a fight." He said, a little up the road he could see another fan stuck in the dirt. He rushed forward and grabbed it too. The two children looked at them, one was slightly damage, while the other was just fine.

"We have to hurry." Katara said worriedly as she pocketed both fans.

Zuko didn't disagree, and the two rushed to the building they needed to go to.

The building was ordinary, and it was true the door was locked, but Zuko was not one who just accepted defeat. Even Katara was ready to start Waterbending through the door. Zuko started with constantly pounding the door, creating quite a bit of ruckus.

"Open up!"

"We're closed!"

"It's an emergency!"

"We. Are. Closed."

"Open up now or I will knocked the door off its hinges!" Zuko shouted again.

There was silence, and the door opened slightly, an older man looked out at the two of them with his sunken eyes. There was a chain on the door, meaning it was still locked, "What is it? You two look fine to me! Can't you see that we're mourning?" He was referring to the entire town, and his eyes were downcast at the mere thought of it.

"We need dark blues." Zuko said, "We're going to save the Avatar."

At first the old man wanted to laugh at the young boy at his front door, but something compelled him to believe Zuko. He looked at the boy for a long moment, before he closed the door, disappearing behind it, and then a series of unlocking sounds could be heard, "Well, come in then. It's either you blow my door down, or I believe you kid."

The door opened, and the two entered, looking around.

"Dark blues you say? I have a few clothes in that color, but I doubt I have any that are premade in your size young man." He said to Zuko.

"We're here for her, not me." Zuko pointed to Katara, who the old man just noticed.

"I see." The man said, looking Katara up and down, "Well, we might have something for her."

Thanking the spirits for this one bit of luck, Zuko and Katara followed the old man as he wandered to the back of his shop, and looked through some clothes that were in a small pile neatly folded. He mumbled as he tossed several around, apparently not caring at the moment if they get dirty. He then stopped and grabbed an outfit that was near the bottom of the stack.

"Is that it?" Katara asked.

"Yep," The man said, unfolding it, and looking it up and down, "Hm, it seems to be a made for a woman a little older than you."

"We'll take it anyway." Katara said quickly.

"Give it a year or two and it'll fit you perfectly." The old man said, giving the outfit to Katara to try on, "You can go upstairs. My room is there, so don't try to steal anything you hear me?"

She nodded, and went up the stairs that moment, leaving the two men downstairs. Zuko turned to the old man, "Thank you." He said, bowing down to him, "This is going to go a long way towards helping us."

"I wanted my poor door to stay on its hinges." The old man replied, making Zuko feel momentarily uncomfortable, "But if you're serious about saving the Avatar, then I wish you all the luck in the world."

"Thank you." Zuko said. He wandered around the shop as he waited for Katara to get ready, and he came across a small section for masks. He looked at them all, and then came across one that made him stop in his tracks. He looked at it, and felt his jaw fall for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. It was an exact replica of the mask he used to wear in his previous life. He remembered he got it from his uncle in the previous life, but he had never gotten it this time around. Was this fate? "Where did you get this?" Zuko said, picking up the blue Oni mask.

"Oh? I just bought it from a port a day away from here. Nothing special about it really, I got it for my grandson, who is usually into this sort of thing, and he didn't really like it, so I decided to just sell it."

Zuko looked down at the mask, "How much for it?" He wondered aloud.

"Why do you want it?"

"To cover her face when she goes to save Aang, and also to intimidate people. A lot of men in the Fire Nation if they find out if she's a girl won't be intimidated. If she wears this, her gender will be up in the air, and everyone would be afraid." He explained.

The old man nodded, "I suppose so, and the blue color goes well with the dark blue clothes she's trying on now."

"Exactly." Zuko said, his heart pounding in his chest as he stared at the mask.

Katara came down the stairs; her entire body was covered in the blue. It even came with blue gloves for her to put on, and the top went up over her hair and only showed her face. A very effective outfit for stealth. _Thank spirits she's too young for that outfit, or else it'd be pointless to try and hide her gender. _Zuko thought to himself, looking at the would-be form fitting outfit if she was much older.

"You look absolutely wonderful!" The old man said, and grabbed the mask Zuko was holding, "Now put this on to complete the set." She saw the mask, though it left no impression on her, the only other person from the group to ever see Zuko in it was Aang. She put it on, and Zuko felt his breath caught again. The old man smiled, "You look amazing!"

Zuko was speechless. She looked exactly as he did when he donned the outfit. The only thing missing were two swords on her back that he used.

"Why the mask?" She asked as she lifted it to be atop her head, and both Zuko and the old man explained it to her. She nodded along, understanding it all.

"Ok, so how much is all this?" Zuko asked, going through his pockets to find the bag of coins he carried with him at all times.

"It's on the house. Just promise me that you'll rescue the Avatar."

Zuko stopped looking for coin, and looked at the man for a long moment, wondering if he was serious or not. After a small bit, he nodded, "All right. Thank you." He bowed down to the old man, and Katara did as well.

"Please, I'm not one for formalities." He sighed, "Now get going."

The two left the building, and were soon rushing to the wagon that they used to get there. It was in a small shed that the inn used, and when they got inside, Zuko reached into the wagon and pulled out his Dao Swords, "Here, you might need these." He said, handing them to her.

She took one glance at them and shook her head, "I don't know how to use them."

Zuko brought them back towards himself feeling a bit foolish for asking her to do something like that. He shook his head, and took her red clothes for her. He noticed that Katara put the fans that Suki used in her pockets, no doubt to give the girl when they were escaping the stronghold. He nodded approvingly, feeling no need to bring attention to it. He then grabbed a few pouched of water and handed it to the girl.

"So where is the stronghold exactly?" Katara asked.

"It's in the mountains. From the town you'll soon find a path through the forest where the Fire Nation drove tanks through. You'll find it if you leave from the south, and after about ten minutes of walking you should see the warpath. You need to take the left path, not the one coming from the right. Take that path, and it should lead you straight to the stronghold. Be careful though, that getting in will be very difficult. The way I got in was from under a cart, though I had to do some very acrobatic moves to avoid being seen when the Fire Nation guard checked under the wagon." He said, easily able to remember that because it had been one of the most frightening moments of his life, wondering if he'd be discovered right then and there as a traitor to the Fire Nation.

"What do I do once I'm inside?"

"There's a storm drain that has water flowing through it. Going into it and it goes straight to the main building of the stronghold. Aang was at the very top of the building when I went to save him. So that is where you'll have to go, unless if you learn otherwise."

Katara nodded along, digesting all the information as he said it. She then sighed, "That's a lot to take in."

"Nervous?" He asked.

"Yeah," She admitted, "I'm going to break into one of the most infamous Fire Nation footholds in the Earth Kingdom, save the Avatar from death, and do it all tonight. When I went to sleep yesterday night, this isn't exactly what I was expecting to do."

Zuko shrugged, "Sorry to say this, but you have to leave now. It's about a seven hour walk there, and it's best if you get there early so you can observe it from a distance."

She sighed, "Wish me luck."

"You don't need any luck. You're a very skilled girl, I know you can do it."

She smiled at that, and hugged him then. With the water pouches tied firmly around her waist, and she left immediately, leaving Zuko behind. He felt like he should have gone to help her, or done anything more, but his uncle was right. He had to stay behind and not tempt fate, which always tried to prove to him that everything was still going the same path. He didn't stay in the shed long, deciding to turn around and wander the town to organize his thoughts.

His eyes fell to the ground, as his thoughts swirled around in his head, wondering about everything that has happened to this point, making him feel even more depressed than he did before he started. He let out a groan, and decided to look at the shoe prints left firmly in the dirt. The road had been muddy before, but since it dried up, or at least wasn't quite as moist as it was the day before, he was able to still see the foot prints from a few days ago.

One in particular interested him though, unlike any of the other prints he saw, this one was bare foot. He followed it, along the path it was going down. Something tugging in the back of his mind, but he couldn't make out exactly why he was so interested in it. He continued to follow it, until it just stopped, and in front and behind of where the two bare feet were now parallel, a large square shape was there, as if something dragged along the ground trapping the person. He noted two other pairs of prints, both of these ones wearing shoes. One that stopped behind the bare feet, and ones that stopped a little further on.

He knelt at where the bare feet ended, and saw a piece of fabric buried in the dirt. He reached down, getting his hands dirty as he began to dig through the dirt to get it out, and once he did he swept the dirt that wasn't imbedded in it off, and his heart stopped for a moment. It was green, the same green Toph wore. The bare feet… it made sense, but was that evidence enough? Who were the other pairs of shoes that were imprinted into the ground? He then noticed that there were two tracks on either side of where the bare feet ended, and then further up, several tracks from an ostrich horse.

"No…" He whispered to himself. _That can't be true. _He thought as he followed the tracks of what he assumed was a cart, and the track of the ostrich horse. He followed it until it reached the southern gates of the village, where Katara had maybe a half hour ago left herself.

He knew it was pointless. Those tracks must have been a couple days old at least, but he felt compelled to follow them. He learned in all his travels with the Avatar that your gut feeling was usually always right, so you should always go along with it. If what he thought was true, then he had to do this.

_The second pair of feet to stop behind Toph must have been Sokka. _He decided, having not found any evidence that Sokka had fought with the Yu Yan Archers like he did with Suki. _If that's the case then I have to do this. _He ran back into the town where his wagon was, and he took the reins of one of the ostrich horses that he had used to bring his supplies to this town. He got on top of it, and immediately began to rush out the southern gate.

He had his swords wrapped tightly around his back, and only the clothes on his back. He knew if he truly had to catch up to a three day lead, and also knew that if they had a cart to go faster with, he was looking at over a week's worth of catching up, and that was being optimistic. However, he set his sights forward, and was determined to save his friends.

_I won't let them down, _was his last thought as he faded away from the view of the village.

**Chapter thirteen – End**

A/N – Woo! Next chapter is the Blue Spirit! I have been waiting to write that chapter since I started this story, and now I am finally here! See you all next time!


	15. Chapter 14

A/N – Next chapter might take a little while to come out, because I'm going camping starting tomorrow, and I won't have a computer to write with, so here's a fast update for all my awesome and lovely readers and supporters!

**Chapter fourteen**

Katara cursed the full moon as she watched the fortress from a distance. Usually it was a blessing to her whenever it was up, increasing her elemental affiliation with water, making her more powerful at least tenfold. However, tonight, the night when she needed darkness the most, it was casting a bright outlook over the field separating the forest she was in and the huge cleared out field surrounding the fortress. From the tree line, she watched with her mask lifted so she could see clearly, and from the corner of her eye she could see a cart within the forest, heading straight to the place, perhaps to bring supplies. Jumping at the chance, she ran over to the cart, pulling her mask down, and getting on the bottom of it.

The dirt path to the fortress was bumpy, maybe purposely so, so people like her couldn't sneak in by doing what she was doing right now. Regardless of the bumpy path, she held on with all her strength, the scar on her throbbed in pain with each bump however, and she had to hold in her scream of pain each time a particularly big bump jolted the cart up. She wasn't supposed to be doing this so soon after recovering from her wound, but she bit her tongue to prevent herself from giving herself away, and through all the pain she focused on what had to be done.

The cart came to a halt, and the sudden stop of motion nearly made her drop to the ground. Thankfully she regained herself and held tight, and watched as a pair of feet walked around the cart, torchlight right above them. She watched as the feet walked slowly around the cart once, before checking the supplies in the back. He then came to the side, and Katara realized as one of the legs fell to his knee that he was going to look under the cart. She looked around quickly for something to do, and realized this was what Zuko had been referring to.

Thinking fast, she dropped to the ground quietly, so that her hands and knees were both on the ground, and she crawled quickly backwards. Right when the man looked under she managed to evade his look when she climbed into the back of the cart where all the supplies were. She had narrowly escaped capture and a premature end to the night.

"Looking forward to watching the end of the Avatar?" The guard asked someone as he walked back to the front of the cart. Katara listened intently to the quiet voices.

"Yeah," The man on the cart said, or Katara assumed it was the man on the cart, "Finally we'll be able to take over the Earth Kingdom without a worry in the world."

Katara felt bile rise through her chest at the mere thought of the world without an Avatar to save them all - without Aang. She stomped down the thoughts, and forced herself not to stumble as the cart started with a jolt, and moved forward towards the gates.

She hid behind the small barrels of fruits and vegetables that came to the fortress, and watched as the gates came into view. She lost her breath as she looked on at the height of the walls, and felt a sense of dread when the gates began to close again, locking her inside of the fort. She let out a small breath, _I need to find Aang first, and then we can find a way to escape. _Nodding her head in determination, she hid down below again as several men walked by the cart.

More than ever she was thankful for the storms that occurred in the past few days, because the cart owner had set up a small canopy above the supplies. It was nice too, providing more than enough room for her to hide in the darkness it provided. She could even tell that it was beginning to rain again. It was light, but she smiled at the sight - yet another advantage she could use when freeing Aang, and with the full moon, well, she'd be a force to reckon with even if she were caught prematurely.

She hazard a look out of the back of the cart again, and caught sight of the storm drain Zuko had told her about. She crept forward from the back of the cart ever so slowly, but quickly hid behind a stack as the owner of the cart came back and picked up one of the barrels of fruit in there. She sighed, thankful that she hadn't hid behind that one. She again crept forward, and got out of the cart, and quickly ran towards the drain.

She jumped into them through the large bars that were spaced very far apart, her heart was pounding with adrenaline, and she prayed to the spirits that she hadn't been captured. When no alarm went off, she let out another sigh and snuck through the drain, hiding in the darkness it provided whenever a small patrol of men would walk near them. It took about ten minutes to reach the foundation of the biggest building in the stronghold, each second she counted on, because time was of the essence. She look up at the structure from where she currently stood, and jumped up and grabbed onto the bars.

She pulled her head out of them and looked around, and seeing no nearby patrols, she got out and hugged against the wall of the structure, the shadows it provided keeping her well out of harm's way. The building was larger than any tower she had even seen, the top was able to easily see over the walls and miles outside of the fortress. It was pained an awful red color, among other yellows and oranges to create the image of a flame bursting from the ground. It contrasted greatly against the large metal gates that surrounded the place, but it was very intimidating on its own regardless.

She took a deep breath to stop herself from shaking, and didn't let it out as she ran towards the front door as several patrols swept the area every other minute. Yet another ten minutes she wasted by standing there, but she had no choice. She had to be careful, for if she were caught, then Aang's life would be forfeit. Thankfully the bright moonlight was offset by the clouds that began to cover the sky. A storm was coming soon. However, that did little to offset her prowess during the time of the full moon, and it just heightened the power she wielded during that night.

She thanked the spirits for providing her with such an excellent cover, and also thanked them for giving her the night of the full moon to do this contradicting her earlier cursing of it, as she got in, and she quietly closed the doors right behind her. No one had yet seen her, and she hoped to keep it that way.

Zuko was pushing the ostrich horse for all it was worth. He looked worriedly up at the rainclouds in the sky, and he knew he was over seven hours away from the village now. Katara must have been trying to get into the fortress now. However, he had a gut feeling that he had to follow this trail, he knew that they had Toph, he felt it inside of himself, so he pushed the ostrich horse forward some more, even as it screeched out in protest.

That screech quickly followed with it shaking violently, causing Zuko to fall off of it, and hit the ground with a loud thud. All his breath was knocked out of his lungs, and he had a hard time breathing for a moment. By the time he got up, the beast had run off.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" He shouted, He cursed loudly, kicking the road. He then took a good look at where he was. He was on a high mountain road, and out in the distance he could very vaguely see the shape of the town he had been in the day before. Below him and spread all out across the distance was a large forest, and if he looked hard enough, he could see the shape of the tower rising out of the ground where Katara must be.

He was so far from both that it would take him over a day of walking to even get to either of them. In Katara's case, he would be so late it'd be pointless. The town was so far away that it was his only choice. The trail that the cart he was following was still days old from where he was standing, and he knew that he had no chance of getting to them on foot.

He feel to his knees, and pulled out the torn piece of cloth that he was so sure was Toph's and looked at it for a few seconds, the winds blew on it, and he held it tighter so he wouldn't lose it.

"Why do I always screw up?" He asked, and had the urge to laugh, and so he did. He laughed just thinking about how Azula had shown up, how much more aggressive Zhao had become, how he got separated from Aang, how Aang got captured... It was far from funny, but he continued to laugh at his desperate situation.

He then felt the tears begin to come. He had failed, and he knew that the laughter would lead to this, but he took a deep breath and held it in.

"I- I need to get back..." He mumbled, standing up and looking back to the town.

That plan left his mind the instant he heard a small chattering sound, and suddenly his face was enveloped by an animal. He let out a startled cry, but when he pulled the animal off, he glared angrily at it before he his eyes widened in recognition, "Momo?"

The small creature crawled on top of his head, and made itself at home.

"Wait! If you're here, then does that mean Appa is too?"

Momo might have understood him, he wasn't sure, but the little creature grabbed the piece of cloth that belonged to Toph, and flew around in the air with it. Zuko watched for a minute, when suddenly Appa came forth from the forest, and charged directly to him. It took the flying bison only seconds, and he reached Zuko and let out a grunt of excitement before landing next to Zuko and licking him.

"The scent?" Zuko mumbled as Momo landed onto his shoulder and dropped the fabric back in his hand, "You could smell Toph's scent on this, couldn't you!"

Momo looked at him oddly before chattering again.

Zuko didn't care that Momo didn't seem to give a crap about what he was saying. He was just so happy that Appa was there. He could go save them, it wasn't all lost! "Come on Appa, we need to go save our friends." He said, getting on top of the bison. Momo followed suit, and Appa didn't even need to be prompted to lift off the ground, doing so by kicking off and into the air, allowing Zuko to steer him into the right direction.

Zuko relished the air rushing pass his face and he knew at that moment that he would be able to find and save his friends. The rain was coming down harder, but it wasn't exactly storming yet, so he risked going further up than he normally would have if he was under any other circumstance. Appa seemed to sense the dire need to do whatever it was that Zuko was doing, and didn't groan in protest as they flew higher into the darkening skies. When he was high enough, he followed in the general direction of the road, keeping an eye on it to see if there were any carts on it.

His original idea of following the tracks disappeared as he flew by faster than he ever could have ridden on the horse. At this rate, he would be able to find her fast, maybe in another hour or so. Or so he hoped... No, he knew he'd find her, he couldn't let doubt cloud his mind after such a fortunate turn of events for him.

"Come on Appa, can you go faster?" He said to the beast, in response he roared at Zuko, "Fine, go as fast as you want." Zuko sighed, knowing that he was pushing his luck.

He flew for almost another hour with Appa going his top speed, following along the road making sure that he was going in the right direction occasionally. He had already covered the same distance he had on his ostrich horse, and maybe a little more. His eyes scanned the road, and thankfully he flew out of the storm that was forming and could see clearly again. _I must be very far from the village now. _He noted, realizing why he had such difficulties finding Aang before.

Then he spotted something, a small fire on the edge of the road. He peered down, trying to get a better look, but all he could see was two men sitting by it, and a small cart next to them with what looked like a coffin in it. He grimaced – he shouldn't mess with two people who were probably mourning. He was about to go on, but Appa grunted loudly when Zuko demanded the bison go further.

"What is it?" Zuko said in surprise as Appa groaned and turned away from where Zuko was trying to make him go. Instead, Appa was heading straight down to the fire.

"Appa! Wait, no!" He shouted to no avail, and soon Appa crashed down onto the ground next to the cart, and growled at the two men who were seated there.

"The flying bison?" One of them said, eyeing it warily, "So you're here for them then?"

"What?" Zuko asked, looking down at them from atop Appa. They were on a small path leading to the mountains, the forest line was just behind them, so they must have decided to camp out before heading through the mountains again, however, what interested Zuko the most is that they seem to know who Appa was, and that he was here for something.

"Oh, you don't know?" The one wearing the fancy clothing asked. He stroked his long moustache, "Then it's none of your concern! You should go on now before something bad happens!"

"Are you implying something?" Zuko asked darkly, jumping off Appa.

"No! He's not!" The much filthier of the two said, glaring at his companion, "We're just travels sending our dearly passed aunt somewhere to be buried with honor."

"I'm sure." Zuko replied dryly.

"So, you should shoo." The other one said, "We're still in dismay over the loss, and you're upsetting me!"

Zuko pulled out his Dao Swords, extending his reach, and pointed one of them at the man who said that, "Show me what's inside."

"You dare disturb our dear aunt?" He said in a vain attempt to stop Zuko.

"I do." Zuko said.

The coffin began to make a lot of muffled noise, and knocking came upon the top of it. Zuko could hear two voices, but he couldn't make out who they were. He instead turned towards both men who looked on in horror as the people in the coffin made noise, confirming Zuko's belief.

"Toph, are you in there?" Zuko called, keeping his eyes on the men as he walked over to the coffin.

"Zuko?" Her muffled voice came back.

"Hey," He said, not sure what else to say.

"Get us out of here Zuko!" She shouted, "I'm getting a really bad cramp right now!"

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"Yeah, please do that!" another voice from the coffin said.

"Sokka?"

"The one and only, but please, do hurry up!"

Zuko shook his head at Sokka's antics, but he made a crucial mistake and had his eyes leave the two men who had kidnapped Toph and Sokka. The one in the rich clothing stepped forward and sent a flowing wave of earth at Zuko, who managed to dodge it easily.

"Can you take on an Earthbending master I wonder?" He said, tauntingly.

A laugh could be heard from the coffin, "Yu? A master? You won't have a problem Zuko!"

Zuko watched as the man named Yu slumped when Toph said that, "I taught you everything you know little girl! Why would you disrespect your teacher so?" Another wave of laughter came from the coffin, further deflating Yu's ego.

Zuko took this time to run up to the man while he was distracted, and easily is able to knock him out with a single hit to the face. The man crumpled under the impact, and fell to the ground hard. Zuko almost felt bad for him, but he did steal Toph and Sokka, so it was hard to justify why what he did was exactly wrong. He turned his attention to the other man, but he shook his head, "Hey, take them, they're all yours."

"Coward," Zuko mumbled under his breath, and he walked over to the coffin, and looked on, trying to understand how to open it. Usually the top could just slide off, but it looked like those two buffoons slammed it shut so it was jammed in there. He would use his swords, but he was afraid that he might harm them inside. However, after looking for anything else to do, he couldn't, so he sighed and said, "I'm going to cut it open."

"Just don't stab us ok?" Sokka's voice called, "I'm not in the mood for acupuncture today!"

Zuko rolled his eyes, and with one sword he stabbed where the lid of the coffin should have easily come off, and used his sword to try and pry it open. It took a while, but eventually the top budged a little bit, and Zuko put all of his weight into it, finally causing the lid to pop off.

Toph was the first of them to climb out with Zuko's help; she walked out of it for a little bit, felt her feet on the ground, and in a very rare show of affection, she turned around and hugged Zuko tightly. Zuko was taken aback by the gestured, and patted her on the back as she did so. He watched as Sokka climbed out seconds later, and he didn't even say anything about how Toph was acting, knowing it would lead to him in the ground somehow.

"How'd you find us?" Sokka asked.

"Appa and Momo helped out a lot." Zuko said, "They could smell this." He lifted up a small torn piece of cloth that belonged to Toph.

"Oh wow, where'd you get that?" Sokka asked, taking it and looking at it.

"Found it half-buried in the ground in an alleyway. I also saw some tracks that led out of town, so I followed my gut feeling and followed it. I'm glad I did."

"You're not the only one!" Sokka laughed, slapping his friend on the back, "Welcome back Zuko! We missed you in the near – wow, nearly three weeks!"

Toph finally let go of Zuko and stepped back a little. Both Zuko and Sokka knew this was in the 'never talk about what I just did or I will destroy you' category. She then looked thoughtful, "Where's Aang? I was positive he was going to be the one to rescue us."

"Also where's Suki?" His eyes widened, "Wait, where's Katara? I thought she was with you! Did something bad happen to her?"

"No," Zuko said, "She's fine. Uncle and I took her to a doctor right away, and she is recovering nicely."

"Oh, so are they all back at the village then?" Sokka asked.

Zuko looked nervous, not entirely sure how to break this to him. "Well, no. Not really."

"What's going on?" Sokka asked, knowing Zuko was hiding something.

"Nothing too serious," Zuko said.

"You're lying." Toph said outright, "Did someone die?"

"No." Zuko said, "Aang and Suki got captured by the Fire Nation."

"What?" Both of them said in obvious shock.

"Yeah, the Yu Yan Archers captured them. They're going to be executed tonight, in maybe an hour."

"We have to go save them!" Sokka shouted.

"We can't, we're way too far away to make it there in time." Zuko said.

"There's something else then?" Toph asked, "Some good news?"

"It depends on your definition of good." Zuko said, knowing Sokka was going to hate this, "Katara went to rescue them."

"And you didn't go?" Sokka asked, his eye was twitching, "Suki is in danger, AGAIN! Now my sister and one of my best friends is in trouble too? Why didn't you go?"

"Because it was too big of a risk," Zuko said, "Think about it. If two of us go, then there's a higher chance of us getting caught. Also, it was when Zhao discovered that I helped to free Aang the last time as the Blue Spirit, and he ordered me killed, remember?"

"It makes sense." Toph said, "With you and Aang going on and on about how similar things are going, at least this is different, in a way."

"I guess." Sokka said, he then tried to think of something else to say, anything to get his mind off Suki being in danger, "So is she going to become the Red Spirit then?"

Zuko raised an eyebrow at that, "no, that would be utterly ridiculous."

"Oh, so she's the Blue Spirit?"

"Yeah…"

"Are you disappointed that she's going to be the _real _Blue Spirit this time around and not you?"

Zuko thought about it for a minute, "Not really."

Sokka shrugged, "Just asking."

"Come on you two," Toph said, climbing on top of Appa, "Zuko said it's a long way to go to help Katara out, so we might as well start!"

"It's over an hour away." Zuko pointed out, "It'll be done by then. We should head back to town and wait for them there."

"No, we're going to help them." Sokka said, stretching around and swinging his sword a few times, "We'll land in the forest near the place to not give away our advantage." He paused, "There is a forest near it right?"

"Yes." Zuko said.

"Ok," Sokka nodded, "That's what we'll do!"

"You forget that I'm not supposed to be helping you guys. If they saw me fighting them, do you think they would react too kindly to my betrayal? It would probably be international news within days, and then my father would put a bounty out for me, and some crazy bounty hunter lady with a giant beast will come and try to capture me and then-"

Sokka slapped Zuko, ending his rant prematurely, "We had gigantic bounties on our head in the future, but I see your point anyway. We'll land near town so you can get off and go back there like nothing happened, and then Toph and I will go off to help them. Is that a good idea?"

"Yeah," Zuko said, rubbing his sore cheek, beginning to wonder if every time he and Sokka interact if it was going to end up with him in pain.

"Good, now come on!" Sokka climbed on top of Appa, Toph there waiting impatiently, and Zuko followed seconds later. Toph was messing around with Momo, the small creature chattering loudly as it climbed all around Toph. Sokka took the head of Appa, and immediately took off, with Zuko directing him to the right place.

It was another five minutes when Zuko's eyes lit up, and he winced, "Oh, there's one thing I forgot to mention to you guys."

"What is it? It couldn't possibly be worse than what is going on right now."

"It's close." Zuko warned, "Azula came back."

Katara was not having an easy time with this building. It was a gigantic metal monster in her eyes, but it was also state of the art technology, having ventilation shafts for her to climb in thankfully. The ceiling of every hallway was covered in all sorts of pipes, and it looked like something out of a very bad and horrible nightmare. She half expected a monster to come out of the protruding darkness of the shafts she quietly crawled through.

Thankfully it never happened, and it was her paranoia getting to her. She often passed several grates in the shaft where she could see some men standing around, either guarding or just talking. She'd listen to each conversation between the men, hoping for some indication of where she needed to go other than her initial guess of up. However, they mostly talked about their wages, and occasionally about their family back home, things that didn't interest her in the slightest.

Each time she listened to someone, she stood still, and she could feel her heart pumping fast, afraid that this would be the time she was caught, but it never happened thankfully. She would quietly continue on without anyone catching on that she was there. It was during one of these conversations in which she got the information she needed though, and she sat there listening as the two men talked about the execution.

"You going to be there in an hour?"

"It's that soon?" One of the men asked.

"Yeah, only people off duty can attend though. Shinu doesn't want to let up on the security around this place, not even for five minutes."

"Wow, I feel bad for the people who have to work." The other said, "To see the end of the Avatar? It's a once in a lifetime event really."

"They're going to be leading him out to be executed shortly, want to watch?"

"Sure." The two walked down the halls, Katara's heart pumping even faster than before, he fears that Aang might truly die resurfacing.

That was it. She had to hurry. Zuko said that Aang was at the top, and she was going to make it there if it was the last thing she did. She swallowed down her fears and continued onward through the shaft, and when it went straight up at a ninety degree angle, she put both feet and arms on the opposite side of the shaft and began to make her way up as fast as she possibly could.

In Aang's holding room, Aang's head was bowed down, his legs were limp, and he had bruises and cuts all over his body. Blood freely flowed from some other open wounds, and though they were not serious, they could possibly be infected if left untreated for too long. Suki looked on in horror at the battered Avatar. She wasn't in a good condition herself, but where they had just beat her a little, they were relentless on Aang, and she didn't know if it was the fact that she was a girl so she got off the hook easy, or if it was because Aang was the Avatar.

She was not happy with either option, because having to watch Aang get the worse of the torture was a horrible sight. Her voice was hoarse from screaming at them to stop, and she feared her voice might be temporarily lost from her constant screaming. Her jaw hurt to move when one of the men punched her there in an attempt to shut her up. She watched Aang's nearly lifeless body the entire time though, not caring for her own wounds, but instead worried for her friend.

"A- Aang." She whispered hoarsely, attempting to say his name was tough. Her mouth was incredibly dry, not having any water to drink for nearly three days.

His only response was his head moving very slightly in his direction.

"We need to stay strong." She whispered.

Aang's head went limp once more, but Suki knew it was his way of dealing with the pain. His mind would go somewhere else during the torture, though when it got particularly bad, even that wouldn't help him and he screamed out in pain. His back was covered in scars that were still raw from the fire whip that was used on him.

She couldn't cry anymore. She had used up all her tears on the first day, and her eyes were very sore and puffy. She closed her eyes instead, and leaned forward. She was still hopeful, even an hour away from their execution. She just wished Aang would share that hope, but he stood there, chained up and defeated.

The door suddenly began to open, and she saw Aang's body tense up slightly. Four Fire Nation men walked into the room, masks covering their faces, but they could practically hear them sneering at the two.

"Look at the all powerful Avatar," One of them said, walking towards Aang and patting him on the head. Aang didn't retaliate in anyway.

"We're here to escort you to the execution. It's happening outside, during the rain storm. It seems like even the spirits don't want you to die, huh?"

Aang again didn't respond.

The guard shrugged, and the four men began to undo the chains on the post. They knew the kids were in no condition to fight, or even move without intense pain really. That wouldn't stop them from making them walk though.

The door opened again.

"Oh, you've come to see them escorted to – wait, who're you?" The other guards busy with undoing the chain looked up in surprise at a long figure standing at the doorway, dressed in blue and wearing an odd Oni mask.

The figure moved forward at lightning fast speed, and hit several pressure points on his neck before he could even scream, knocking him out immediately. She dodged under a blast of Fire coming from her left, and went over and disabled two other Firebenders as if it were nothing. The last one looked at the wall in panic where a horn was placed so he could use it in case of emergencies. He ran for it, but stopped when he felt his body go numb mere feet away. He fell forward, his head smashing into the wall.

The fight was over in less than a minute, and the Blue Spirit looked up towards the post, and upon seeing the two of them, recoiled in horror, taking a step back.

Aang's body was still limp, but Suki was watching the person, "Z- Zuko?" She said, her throat hurting intensely from saying that at normal volume.

The Blue spirit didn't respond, instead she was still looking at Aang. It took a little bit but she finally snapped out of it, and rushed forward towards him, and Waterbended some water out of the pouches she had around her waist and froze the chain holding his arms up, and then with a flick her hand, the chains shattered when the ice did. She grabbed Aang before he fell to the ground.

"Aang?" She said, Suki recognizing the voice as Katara's, "Aang! Come on, wake up!"

Her heart was pounding so loud and so fast that she could hear it as if it were right inside of her ears. Seeing that Aang wasn't responding, she bended some water over the open wounds over his body, praying to the spirits that she wasn't too late. She could feel the warm tears coming down her face, and with the mask covering her face, she could barely see in front of her, though she doubt she would be able to see in front of her without it either.

This was not how she expected their reunion to go. She thought he would smile up at her, and they would kiss one another and be on their way out of here with everyone else, but unfortunately, her thoughts had met the brick wall known as reality. She just hadn't expected it to be so brutal.

"Come on Aang, please…" She whispered, not even caring that her voice cracked.

Suki watched the scene from the side, and she knew that Aang needed the medical attention far more than her. She was still tied up, but she wasn't about to request Katara to free her. The girl was close to breaking down emotionally, and if Aang was actually dead… She shuddered at the thoughts. The world would be without Aang to save them all, and she had no idea how Katara would handle the news.

Katara continued to heal his body, there was practically a cut on every part of his body. They hadn't even bothered to take his clothes off when they beat him; they were completely torn apart and in tatters. She continued to mumble his name, begging him to still be alive, not even accepting that he might be dead. She noticed her hands were shaking very violently, to the point where she could barely bend water anymore, and she forced herself to take a deep breath so she could continue her work.

It was a very intense few minutes, but finally Aang opened an eye, the other too bruised to open, and he looked at her, he opened his mouth to talk, but like Suki's it was dry as a desert.

"Aang!" Katara practically shrieked, and noticed he needed water. She bended some out of a pouch she hadn't used yet, and gave him some slowly.

To Aang, it tasted like the best thing in the world. He savored the taste, and allowed it to roll over in his mouth, covering the sore and dry surfaces. He drank some more, and finally he looked up at her, "K- Katara…" He croaked out.

"I'm so sorry Aang." She said, hugged his head to her chest, her sobs sounding throughout the room as she cradled him back and forth, "I was so late, if Zuko and I had found you sooner this would never have happened…" She continued to cry, breaking down completely, just holding him close to her.

Suki watched on, knowing that it was a tender moment between the two, but she also knew where they were, and exactly how much danger they were in at the moment. She hesitated for only a moment, before she said, "Katara, we need to get out of here."

Katara didn't seem to hear her, still cradling Aang. It was Aang who finally snapped her out of it by patting her on the shoulder with his hand, and pointing it at Suki.

Katara looked on in momentary confusion through her tears before she suddenly realized where she was and what was going on. She gently lowered Aang to the ground, he was too weak to even sit up, and she went over to Suki and undid her chains as well. The girl rubbed her very sore wrists, and let out a sigh of relief.

"You're finally here." Suki said, hugging Katara.

"I came at the last possible moment." She noted, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

Katara shook her head and reached into her pockets and handed Suki her fans back. The girl look at them in surprise, and accepted them immediately, opening them up, and looking slightly disappointed when one of them had a small hole in it where the sharp arrowhead pierced it right through.

Suki, unlike Aang, was in far better condition, and though she was extremely sore, and would like nothing more than to sleep, she knew that they had to escape. She went over to the wall near the door and grabbed her katana off the wall, putting it in her sheath while she also put both of fans tied to her belt. She then grabbed Aang's staff, and looked over to Katara, who very gently lifted Aang up, her arms behind his head and below his knees. The two girls then got out of the room, and went through the hallways of the tower.

"Where's Sokka and Toph?" Katara asked, looking around, holding Aang close to her.

"They're not here." Suki said.

Katara frowned, but showed no other emotion. Suki examined her and decided that she had far too many other things on her mind at the moment to think about what happened to her other two friends.

"Do you know how to get out of here?" Suki asked.

"Not really, I went through the vents, but with Aang like this I don't think it's a good idea."

Suki nodded, "So we need to use stealth?"

"Like when we were in Omashu." Katara noted.

"Yeah, we always do seem to get paired up when it comes to these kinds of things."

Katara nodded, and led Suki through the complex. They would hide in the shadows whenever possible, and take out the lanterns on the walls whenever they could, and soon they were at the front door after going down several flights of stairs. Katara pushed it open, making sure not to harm Aang, and she and Suki both headed towards the shadows where she hid earlier. The rain had turned to a downpour now, and it provided them with excellent cover.

Katara rushed through the weather, her dark blue hid her figure perfectly, but the bright orange she was holding was not very difficult to spot. Suki's dark green was also great cover, and they ran through the grounds without getting detected at all. They made it to the storm drains, and Katara saw the water flowing and steadily rising down there. With her bending it the current stop, and the three of them went in. Katara was only using one arm to bend, and even that arm was occupied with holding Aang. She was again very thankful for the full moon for providing her with this intense power.

They wandered through the drain, Katara pushing the water aside so they could get through whenever necessary and then they made it to the other side of them.

"We're at the gates." Katara said at normal volume. She knew the guards wouldn't hear her.

Suki nodded, her voice was still too hoarse even after getting a mouthful of rainwater.

Katara raised the water she the three of them could easily step out of the vent, and then she lowered it and allowed the current to go back forth. She smiled at her efforts, and the two of them looked up at the gates, wondering how exactly they were going to get through. Katara looked thoughtful, and smiled. It was a full moon. There was rain all over. This was not a hard problem for her to solve.

"Can you hold Aang for me?" She asked.

Suki nodded, "Sure."

Katara handed over the half unconscious boy, and then went to work. She took a small breath of air, and then began to bend the rainwater pouring all around them. The water gathered around their feet, and became ice. The solid surface was ridged so their feet could get a grip and they wouldn't slip off, and then slowly the platform began to move. It would take far too much time if she had made it a pillar from the ground up, so she had the rather large sheet of ice begin to traverse up the side of the wall. It took only a minute, and soon they jumped off and were on top of the wall.

There was another two walls they had to get across however so Katara did the same action to get them down and up the next wall. They were surprisingly meeting little resistance so far, and the rain seemed to never end. A loud clap of thunder occurred, and the following flash of lightning provided a little light, and one patrol of two men saw the three children escaping.

Unfortunately for them, Katara also saw them. Her senses were heightened, and her awareness of her surroundings were heightened due to the seriousness of the situation, and when she saw the men, she wasted no time, and within seconds the two men were covered from feet to neck in ice, and they fell down. She then easily knocked them unconscious from their prone state.

"Only one more wall," Suki said, from her side, still holding Aang.

Katara nodded, and they were off.

Suddenly a very loud horn went off, and they knew immediately that the four bodies in Aang's prison cell were found. Katara groaned, and saw the ground below the second gate beginning to get covered in men, running around looking frantically for the three of them. She bit back a curse and looked around to see if there were any other possible places for them to escape to. Not seeing any exit, she looked to Suki, who also looked lost.

"I guess we'll have to fight." Katara sighed, "You hold Aang, and I'll fight them off while you two escape."

"No." Suki said, "We're sticking together."

"What?"

"You heard me." Suki said, her eyes looking on in challenge.

"Do you see how hurt Aang is? He has to get out of here!"

Suki nodded, "How are we going to escape without your bending though?"

"I'll make a platform for you guys to ride up the wall; you'll have to find your way down though."

"That won't do." Suki said, "We're not leaving without you."

"There they are!" They heard shouting, and soon an arrow imbedded itself between the two of them, narrowly missing. They didn't know if it was bad aim, the weather, or a warning shot, but they got the message just clear. They had to get out of there, immediately.

Katara looked down the length of the wall and saw a few men with their arrows out, ready to shoot again, so she quickly bended the water at her feet launch at them like a tidal wave, picking up momentum and growing larger the further down the wall it went until it crashed into the men, sending them flying across the wall, and almost knocking a few of them off. However, they were all unconscious from the blow, and Katara knew that since they were spotted that they had to move.

"Get on it now!" Katara shouted, jumping off the side of the wall before the sheet of ice even formed. She landed on top of it right when it formed, Suki holding Aang following right behind her. She lowered the platform as faster as she could, and then they made their way across to the final wall at a breakneck speed.

Suki unfortunately was way too hurt, and Katara soon realized that she was lagging behind. She turned around, and formed a barrier of ice to protect her and Suki from several arrows that flew at them. The ice shattered, but it served its purpose, Katara was holding onto Suki as they ran for the ice platform that Katara had formed early.

"Don't let them escape!" The familiar voice of Zhao shouted.

Katara looked all around, but could not spot him. Men swarmed towards them, so she quickly raised the platform before they were in even worse trouble. As it continued up, She had to constantly form barriers of ice to protect from the arrows, and constantly reformed them when they were shattered. Half way up the final wall, a small burst of fire shot towards them, but thankfully the downpour, and Katara's quick motion to douse it prevented it from doing anything at all, proving to the Firebenders that it was a futile effort.

When they reached the top of the final wall, men ran up to them on both sides, so Katara quickly formed a wall of ice on one side. It was thin, but it would do its job as she quickly turned around and like before sent a tidal wave to push them far away from her. She then turned back towards the ice wall, and used her bending to push it and the soldiers behind it far away as well.

"It's a full moon and it's raining." One of the men said to Zhao, who watched from a distance, "He's practically unstoppable right now."

Zhao was on the second wall looking towards the first and growled, "Send in the archers then! They're our strongest men, they can take him out!"

The Archers heeded the command, and loaded their bows and fired.

Katara saw the wave of arrows coming from the downpour, and with a quick motion created another ice barrier above her to prevent the attack from doing any damage. Suki just watched in awe at the powerful display of Katara's fullest abilities as a bender. Eventually the onslaught stopped, and Katara turned around and created an ice platform for them to go on to get down the final wall.

Another round of archers got right on top of the final wall and aimed downward at Katara and Suki, and fired their arrows towards them. Katara made a shield again, but the ice shattered, and getting more creative from the last time, several arrows followed shortly after that, grazing Katara's shoulder, and grazing Suki's arm. The other few arrows pierced the platform, forcing Katara to quickly repair it.

In that short time though, they shot more arrows, forcing Katara to divert her attention back to the shield above. She knew they were going to do the same tactic again, so she quickly formed another shield below the initial one, and smiled in satisfaction as it worked. Unfortunately, they did the same thing with this one, piercing through it and an arrow barely missed her head.

The lowering platform stopped suddenly, Katara unable to keep it together, "Get ready for a fall!" Katara shouted to Suki right when the platform broke apart, and the trio fell to the ground. Suki kept a good grip on Aang, and placed herself to hit the ground and Aang to hand on her so he'd take far less of the impact. However, Katara fortunately turned towards the ground while in the air, and bended a pool of water to quickly catch them.

It was still a rough landing, but the mush softer landing probably saved their lives, as they were able to stand and start to run seconds later. Arrows still shot at them, but the increased distance was making it far more difficult for them due to the rain. That didn't stop a dozen archers from exiting through the opened gate and heading towards the forest where the children ran off to. Their orders were clear, get the Avatar or else. Knowing Zhao, the 'else' option was probably a painful death, so they abided by the order and charged outward.

In the forest, Suki had to stop running and lean on a tree. She set Aang down next to her and gripped her side, breathing heavily. She had her eyes tightly shut, and her teeth were gritted and she breathed through her closed teeth. Katara saw this, and quickly went over to the obviously pained girl and began to use her Waterbending to soothe the pain.

"Does that feel better?" She asked.

Suki was still breathing heavily, but she nodded in response.

When Katara was done she turned her attention to Aang. His chest was slowly rising and lowering, a good sign. She got closer, and began to heal some of the bruises that formed all over him. She grabbed him, and gently turned him over, and gasped at the scars that adorned his back. She unconsciously touched her own scars – both of them were hurt so early this time, and by the same man. She felt an intense hatred welling up inside of herself, but she forced herself to calm down. Now wasn't the time to let her emotions run rampart.

Bending the water, she put them over the scars, causing Aang to spasm in her hold, and she held him tightly, closing her eyes tightly knowing that she was causing Aang the pain. Getting rid of scars was impossible with Waterbending – without spirit water of course – and when trying to heal a raw scar it caused initial great pain before the relief washed through the person. His spasms stopped, and he again went limp in her hold. She still held him tightly after it was all over though, just happy to have him back again.

Until an arrow hit her clothes, and the momentum of the arrow forced her to drop Aang, and collide with a tree right behind her. She gasped in surprise, as did Suki, and she quickly bended a wall of ice around them, while Suki pulled the arrow out and pulled out her fans, standing protectively over Aang's body.

The men didn't reveal themselves, but the direction of their arrows did. When another volley came, Katara dodged out of the way as the ice was pierced, and stopped the rain within a few feet radius of her and turning them into jagged shards of ice and sending them straight towards where the arrows came from. One of the archers had to dodge by jumped from the tree, and Katara used that chance to use the water gathered on the forest floor to quickly encase his feet in ice. She then ran towards him and knocked aside his arrow as he was about to shoot another arrow, and then she hit him in the neck.

Katara's hand reached down towards her abdomen as an intense pain ripped through her, her still healing scar was getting worse from all the movement and fighting she had been doing that night, though now it felt like it was burning right through her skin. She held in her cry of pain, and forced herself not to fall to the ground, and instead turned towards a few of the men who saw her reaction in pain, and went to finish her off. However, she glared up at them and reached forward sending every raindrop around her towards them like small dull needles.

It was odd for her to bend so uncharacteristically like this. Usually she would drop in her stance to fight, but she has been in such a rush, in so much pain, that she had been using very sloppy motions to direct the water. This would usually make her bending far weaker, but she knew that she really lucked out this night. The needle like raindrops stopped, and the men staggered forward, but Katara got into her stance and with a few swift motions bended them up to their necks in ice.

She knew that Suki and Aang were in intense danger, so she decided to create a small dome of ice to surround them. She did so, easily hiding them within the safety of it, and she turned back to the archers hidden in the trees. She held her arms out in front of her, calming herself down enough to use her Waterbending stance. She took a few deep breaths, and knowing that her friends were safe, was able to fight better knowing that there were no risks.

Suki dropped Aang's staff near the boy and let out a sigh as she leaned against the tree, dropping her stance. She knew it was unprofessional, but she was exhausted, and really it was all an act. She could barely think straight. She let out a deep breath, and her eyes felt heavy, _No, don't go to sleep! _She chided herself, sitting up again, but it was no use. She eventually leaned down again, losing consciousness.

Katara was getting tired, but she kept on the offense, knowing that these archers could easily kill her if she wasn't constantly moving. They had pinned her to the tree several times, but every time it happened she would rip the arrow out while forming an ice barrier with her other hand. She was simply too much of a force to reckon with right now. The men began to realize this as the fight dragged on, Katara using every trick she knew to keep herself alive and to trap these men or knock them out, and eventually it was only four of them left against her.

She didn't know it of course, but she noted that their attacks were becoming far less frequent, and knew that it had to mean something, good or bad. From behind the mask she looked all over, eyeing each place carefully. When nothing happened, she slowly walked towards the ice, not breaking her stance at all.

A few arrows shot out towards the dome of ice, and she did a swift motion of her arm to send several shards towards the location, yet no men jumped down. She growled and ran towards the tree, and ran up it, each step she took water froze into ice, keeping her upright, and her momentum allowed her to reach the very top. If she had stopped moving for even a second, gravity would have taken her down.

She landed on a branch of the tree, and saw the men loading their bows to shot at her. She finished them all easily sending several shards at them, pinning their loose clothing to the treetops behind them. She sighed in relief, and looked around her, careful to keep her balance on the branch. When she was satisfied with the work she did, she dropped down, bending water to lower her down gently to the ground.

When she reached the ground, she collapsed. She knew it wasn't smart, and that there might be people around, but the burning feeling from her chest was too much for her to handle now. She got on her hands and knees, and felt the bile rise and she ousted it. Coughing, a little, she began to shake, knowing it was a side effect of all the adrenaline still running through her body. She did all that fighting, and finally she got to rest; she realized how horrible she truly felt.

She stood shakily to her feet, and walked over to the dome, not risking lowering it knowing the enemy could still be around, and sat beside it. Her clothes were dripping wet, on all parts of her body, and while her element was water, it didn't mean that she was immune to the cold. She shook, knowing that she needed to get out of the rain soon. She made a small barrier of ice above her to do just that, and she closed her eyes.

Appa roared as they continued to fly through the storm, and in the distance they could see the Stronghold that Katara had entered. The storm provided them with more than enough cover, and they flew low enough that they could clearly see people running about, and the whole place was in a fuss. Sokka looked down trying to determine if his sister, friend, and wife were all there, but he couldn't see anything to indicate where they were.

"Look there!" Zuko yelled out, not even caring that Sokka broke his word and went to the stronghold instead of dropping him off first. He was as worried as everyone else for the well being of his friends.

"What's over there?" Sokka said, moving Appa to the direction.

"Some men are moving out of the gates. I think she escaped."

"Seriously?" Sokka said, looking down, and saw several dozen men running out of the fortress with spears and swords at the ready, "Oh man, we have to find them fast!"

"They're in the forest somewhere I'd guess." Zuko said, moving aside his wet hair out of his eyes so he could keep watch.

"Just get me into the forest, I'll find them." Toph said.

"Alright!" Sokka said, flying Appa towards the forest, looking for some place to land. Unfortunately the place was very dense, and flying any spot for the bison to land was nearly impossible. Sokka steered Appa all around, but still couldn't find any place after a few minutes, "Damn it!" He cursed aloud, "I can't find any place to land Appa!"

"Go to the road to the west of here with Appa," Zuko said to him, "It should be a few miles away, land there and wait for us."

"Oh no you don't!" Sokka shouted, "I'm not leaving Suki behind again!"

Zuko didn't argue the point, but instead just nodded. He grabbed Toph, by the waist, and hoisted her up.

"What are you doing?" She cried out in surprise.

"Going down to the ground." He said, and jumped towards a large branch he saw.

The treetops did slow them down, but it was still an incredibly stupid and incredibly risky thing for them to do. They plowed through the branches, Zuko eventually landed on one with Toph holding him for dear life. Sokka followed a few seconds later and nearly slipped due to the wet branch. Thinking fast, Zuko reached back and pulled him back onto the branch.

"Thanks." Sokka said.

"Don't mention it." Zuko said, and they made their way down, Toph still holding onto Zuko very tightly. They jumped from branch to branch, Zuko told Toph get on his back so he could use his hands, which she did after little fuss. Sokka was the first down, with Zuko following shortly after, and Toph let go of Zuko, got on her knees, and kissed the ground at her feet.

"Don't EVER do that again without warning me!" She shouted after a few seconds.

"You wouldn't have agreed to do it if I told you."

"I don't care!" She said, standing up, "Next time you do it I will end you!"

"Oh, really?" Zuko said, sounding amused.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"Well, you're a small kid again and –"

He stopped when a rock hit him in the butt, sending him up a few feet, "Say that again, I dare you to." She said threateningly.

"Enough flirting guys, we have much more important things to do!" Sokka said, breaking them up, "Toph, can you feel anything out of the ordinary?"

She stepped on the muddy ground and felt the vibrations of the earth below, "I can kind of make something out over there." She said.

Looking at where she was pointing, Sokka ran off, and Zuko ran right behind him with Toph tailing them. It didn't take them long to reach where Toph was telling them about, maybe a few minutes, and then they came across several men encased in ice. Looking at it, Sokka smiled, "This has to be Katara's doing! Katara! Where are you?"

The storm drowned out their voices as they searched, screaming out their names, when they suddenly found a dome of ice, and another layer of ice next to it with Katara laying under it.

"Katara!" Sokka shouted, running over to her and grabbing her, "Oh man, this isn't good." Sokka said. She was getting pretty pale, and her lips had turned slightly blue. Sokka reached forward and put two fingers onto her neck to check her heartbeat, "Ok, She's still alive." He looked at the mask discarded next to her, but said nothing of it, not really worried about that for now, "She's suffering from hypothermia." He stated.

Zuko broke through the dome, which was surprisingly thick, "Aang and Suki are both in here."

"Do they have hypothermia too?" Sokka asked worriedly.

"No, but… Wow, Aang doesn't look good."

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, but his question was soon answered as the ice broke away to reveal Aang lying there looking like he had gone through a grinder. Suki was next to him, and she was also is pretty bad shape, "Oh man, we need to get Appa."

"We left him, and it's about an hour hike to make it out of the forest from here." Zuko said, pacing a little bit.

"We have to leave now." Toph said, "I can feel them coming."

Sokka looked at his sister, and came to a quick decision, "Zuko, you can regulate your body temperature right? With like your weird Firebending mumbo jumbo?"

"I guess." Zuko said.

"You carry Katara. She needs something warm, and you're our only available option right now."

Zuko wanted to complain, but he knew how serious the situation truly was, so he didn't object as he picked up Katara and held her close to him. He was surprised by how cold she felt, and shivered at the touch of her bare skin where her outfit was ripped.

"Toph, you carry Aang, I'll get Suki."

It truly was an emergency when Toph did an order without complaining even once. She picked him up, grabbing his staff as well, while Sokka picked up Suki and the trio ran out of the area towards the edge of the forest. Toph didn't say anything else during the journey, which Sokka and Zuko were both thankful for, knowing it meant that there would be no ambushes as they ran to the road.

They eventually did make it, and the storm had lightened up a little, allowing them all to see.

"Ok, we're here, now what?" Toph said.

"Appa should be here!" Sokka mumbled, "Come on Appa!"

Zuko remembered something, and reached into Katara's pocket, and fished out a whistle. He brought it up to his lips and blew on it, protruding no noticeable sound to anyone there, but within seconds Appa flew from the distance, and landed near them.

"You got his whistle?" Sokka shouted, "Thank the spirits!"

They put the three unconscious people onto Appa and began to fly to the town. It would be roughly a half hour before they made it there, and with that time they had to nurse their friends. Sokka took Aang's tattered clothes off, and saw all the wounds, and especially the nasty scarring on his back. He reached for some supplies and stopped, everything was soaked. He bit back a curse and held Aang close to himself, knowing he had to keep the boy warm.

"We need to get them to a doctor right when we arrive." Sokka said, "Just focus on keep them warm right now."

"Got it." Zuko and Toph said with a nod of their head.

Zhao watched in anger that morning as group after group of Fire Nation soldiers returned to the keep empty handed. When the morning arrived, the sun coming up from the distance, it seemed to make the storm disappear. The clouds were still hanging overhead, and he could still hear thunder in the distance, but it was going away soon, and that angered him even more.

WHY did the storm have to hit that night? A lone Waterbender came and single-handedly saved the Avatar and his friend. he even managed to defeat several of the most elite squads. He growled as he thought of the night, and the moon… Oh, he had a special surprise for the moon, and when he- he stopped, and took a deep breath. No, not yet. That will come in due time, right now he had to focus on the report he was going to have to send to the Fire Lord, the report of his failure.

He didn't like that, not one bit.

"Admiral Zhao," Two archers kneeled down to the man atop the gate overlooking the plains in front of the fortress.

"What is it?" He spat.

"We were spying on the Waterbender when someone you're interested in arrived to help them all, if anything this should make you happy." The men said, and began to explain all they saw.

An hour later, Zhao was walking atop the gate with a scribe, a short man who had to run just to keep up with the much taller Zhao. He had a pen out, and looked up at Zhao, "You need my assistance Admiral?"

"Yes. I'm sending a letter to the Fire Lord," The scribe jotted down some quick notes, before he nodded to allow Zhao to continue, "Dear Fire Lord Ozai, I have recently learned that your beloved son, the crown Prince of the Fire Nation, has betrayed our great and powerful nation, to side with our enemy, the Avatar…"

**Chapter fourteen – End**

A/N –A few things different in this than my original outline:

Katara was originally supposed to Blood Bend, hence why I kept referring to the moon so much in previous chapters, and I hammered the point that it was a full moon in this chapter a lot. However, I wanted to show that she was a very powerful bender in her own right, and instead I just had her freaking dominate.

Second change was the fact that in my outline Aang and Suki were relatively unharmed. I figured it would be more dramatic and realistic if they were tortured while they were in there, especially since they were going to be executed soon anyway.

Third change was that I was originally going to have Zhao say Azula had betrayed the Fire nation in his letter as well. I changed this one because I doubt Fire Lord Ozai would truly believe that, and I have a newer and better idea of what to do with her (Don't worry, the outline changed according to this).

I hope you enjoyed that! See you all next time!


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter fifteen**

The constant raining that had been going on for days finally stopped, and in its place the sun shone brightly instead. There was scarcely a single cloud in the sky, nothing to scare the people of the small and poor village into thinking that the storms would return. Though the town viewed the rain as a curse, a menace that closed most of their shops and forced them to stay inside all day, Team Avatar viewed it as the sole reason they managed to do everything they had to do without getting caught, and it was true – it did save them in the end.

Though that's not to say the element wasn't dangerous – Katara, a master Waterbender had developed a mild case of hypothermia from the often times most romanticized element of the four, and Aang and Suki had both been getting a small case of it when they were found. When they were found, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko had brought them to the only medical clinic in the village nearby, knowing that they couldn't go on without treatment for too long. It was a risk, but one they had to take so not to risk their friend's lives.

The three were lying down now in three beds spread across a small room, the best the place had to offer. The only light that entered from was a window on the opposite side of the beds, and there was just a small sheet of cloth between each bed to provide each patient with a sense of privacy. Their wet clothes had been removed, and instead they were now in white robes provided by the doctor, and they were simply resting.

Four intense days had passed, each day passed with the constant threat of a Fire Nation attack, and everyone knew it. The three that were awake would constantly switch shifts at night for watch duty within the clinic – refusing to separate from the three wounded friends. They would never leave their side for a moment, always one of them would be in the room, as if they thought an assassin would show up and try to kill the Avatar while he was weakened. Fortunately, that never happened, and on the fourth day Aang's eyes fluttered a little.

_My head feels like it just got hit by a thousand pound moose lion... _He thought to himself as his head pounded, it felt like something inside was constantly hitting his skull. He gritted his and turned over, and saw a white cloth that was hanging from the ceiling. He blinked a few times, _Where am I? _He turned away from it, feeling sore all over, and tried to organize his thoughts, he was dizzy, very dizzy.

He also felt his arm right arm was very stiff; he looked down at it and noticed immediately that it was being held in place by wood that was wrapped all around his hand – a makeshift cast. He blinked again, and that is when he noticed that he was only seeing from one eye, fearing the worst, he lifted his good hand up to feel his face, and sighed in relief when he felt only bandages wrapped around that eye, he vaguely remembered getting hit really hard right there.

"Aang?"

Aang looked down the length of his bed to see Zuko standing there looking down at him. He smiled weakly at his friend, "Hey Zuko."

"You're finally awake." Zuko said, allowing a small smile on his face, "You've been sleeping for days."

"Why?" Aang asked.

"You don't remember?"

"Sorry."

"Don't be, I wouldn't want to remember it either."

"So what happened?"

Zuko paused, and his smile dropped. He walked over to the side of Aang's bed and sat down on a small wooden stool that the doctor would use to check on her patients, "Do you truly not remember?"

"I remember… Landing in some ruins, coming to a village… Being with Suki…" He tried to think harder, and then his eyes widened, "I was captured."

"Yeah, by the Yu Yan Archers."

"They took me to that place with Suki, and they tortured us." His mouth was agape, "I was scarred really badly on the back…" He sat up, feeling a sting of pain, and reached back to touch the scars. He felt the sick twisting of flesh, and was surprised by how little pain he felt from it, "They beat me, but it was even worse when they would hurt Suki…"

"Do you remember how you escaped?"

Aang tried to think hard, "Not really, what happened?"

"You must have really been out of it." Zuko said shaking his head, "You were saved by Katara. She came disguised as the Blue Spirit and freed you guys."

"Katara?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, I would have gone, but she talked me out of it."

Aang nodded, "Is she all right then?"

"She's in better condition than you if that's any comfort."

Aang looked down, feeling both guilty and stupid, "I am such a moron, I got caught again, knowing what was going to happen. We never should have stopped here. I got everyone hurt… Wait, where's Toph and Sokka?"

"They're both fine. They left to go to town to get some supplies. They're working for the doctor right now." Zuko said when Aang was about to ask questions, "That's how they have the money."

"Is Suki all right then?"

"She's suffering from the same things as you but on a smaller scale. To be honest, I'm shocked that you woke up first out of everyone – must be the benefits of being an Avatar." He said that last part to try and get Aang to smile.

Aang didn't react to Zuko's joke; he only looked aside at the white cloth separating the beds from one another. Zuko noticed where his attention was, but didn't say anything. After a little bit Aang looked away and leaned back down in his bed, "Thank you Zuko."

"No problem." Zuko got up from the stool when Aang closed his eyes again, and he walked over to the corner where he could observe them all again. He had a small smile on his face, and he crossed his eyes as he sat down. Finally, after a few weeks of not seeing Aang he had, _and all my doubts about him being my friend are gone. _He felt lighter after that conversation, and the thought of him every betraying Aang repulsed him now like it hadn't for quite a while.

With that he leaned against the wall and continued to watch.

Later that night, Katara opened her eyes; she looked around, momentarily confused, before the memories of everything hit her again. She remembered hearing about Aang's capture, she remembered going to Pohuai Stronghold to free him, she remembered fighting possibly over a hundred men single-handedly, and she remembered going to sleep in the forest after she got done fighting a large group of those archers. However, out of all those things, one was the most prominent thought at the top of her mind.

"Aang." She croaked out, surprised by how dry her throat felt. _Not again… _She thought as she sat up, and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark surroundings. She looked over to her right and saw the cloth divider, and then looked lower to a small night stand, _Where's water? _She fumbled around, reaching around trying to find any.

"Here," She looked up and saw Sokka at the edge of her bed holding out a cup of water to her. She quickly grabbed the cup and downed it immediately.

"Thank you." She said, feeling a little better.

Sokka just stared at his sister for a long moment, before he finally walked over to the side and gave his younger sister a hug, "You can be really stupid sometimes," He said gruffly, "You got hurt by Zhao the last time I saw you, then you went to free Aang while you were still hurt? Stupid, Katara."

She smiled, wrapping her arm around him tighter, "I love you too."

He let go and turned away from her to wipe his eyes, she smiled lightly, knowing he didn't want her to see him crying, "I can't believe you'd be so stupid though. You were in bad shape when we found you."

"I'm sorry."

He sighed, "Don't be, you did what had to be done."

She looked around the place again, "Where are we?"

"We're in the village close to the stronghold." He raised his hand to stop her outburst when her eyes widened and she opened her mouth, "Ah! Hold on, don't worry. They don't know we're here. As far as they know, we escaped as soon as we could."

"So we're safe?"

"For the time being anyway," He looked out the window at the darkened sky, "We've been switching off at night to watch, or feel in Toph's case, to make sure that they don't discover us here. So far we've been lucky."

"We need to get out of here soon."

"Yeah, but the doctor said you guys were too hurt to move. She was also furious when she learned what you've been doing, since you still have a fresh scar and your skin is still recovering from what Zhao did to you. She was wondering why you would do that to yourself."

"I was asking myself the same questions last night."

"Last night?" Sokka shook his head, "You've been here for four days Katara, do you how we found you?" She shook her head, and he sighed, pacing around her bed, "You were under this ice umbrella and you were freezing to death. You had a ton of cuts and bruises, and you also got a new scar on your shoulder where I am guessing an arrow hit you."

She pulled down her robe long enough to look at the scar, and saw that it was healing nicely. "It has seriously been three days?"

"Four." He corrected, "And yeah, the doctor says you'll have to stay here for another few days to make sure you recover well."

"But I feel fine."

"Famous last words." Sokka said grimly.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Aang and Suki are ok, right?"

"Yeah, but they really didn't look good when they came in here."

"I know," Katara said, remembering how badly hurt both of them had been, "I was so shocked when I found them like that, that I started to breakdown, I thought Aang died." She paused for a moment, composing herself, "After that I was furious. I felt like I wanted to tear everyone around me down."

"From what I've heard, you did just that." Sokka laughed, "The town's in an uproar over the news that has been trickling in, and the Fire Nation has posted a wanted poster up for you – the Blue Spirit. I hope Zuko won't mind that you stole his disguise this time around."

"I don't think he will."

Katara was looking towards the cloth hanging between their beds, and Sokka rolled his eyes, "Do you want to see them?" He asked.

She nodded, not bothering to talk, and she pulled the blanket off of her and felt the ground with her feet. The room actually had a wooden floor that she was surprised by, and considering the state of the town she was in, she half expected to step in dirt or mud. Sokka came over and grabbed her shoulders to make sure she wouldn't fall or trip due to not walking for a while, it was a kind gesture, and she smiled towards him as he led her around the cloth to the first of the two beds.

The beds were set side by side, in the middle was Suki, Katara was on the bed to the furthest left, and Aang was in the right position. She got the bed closest to the doorway into the room, a fact she didn't really like, but she didn't bother to complain about it. She looked outside, and noted that it was very dark, but the moon provided enough light to see the town. She felt paranoid, feeling as if her hair was going to stand on its end.

She must have tensed up when they passed the window, because Sokka squeezed her shoulder during the time. She appreciated the action, and they moved towards Suki.

She looked a lot better than she had a few days ago, and Katara smiled upon seeing the sleeping girl. Even Sokka was quiet as he watched her sleep, "How've you been dealing with this?" Katara asked, nodding towards Suki.

"I'm fine."

Katara looked at him with a raised eyebrow, clearly in disbelief.

"Ok, yeah, I feel a little guilty. I wish Toph and I hadn't gone off to try and scam people for money." He confessed.

"You were going to scam people?"

Sokka smiled, "Hah, yeah."

"We're supposed to be the good guys you know."

"We were out of money."

"You can _earn _it like normal people usually do!" She then paused, "Sorry, I went off topic."

"Nah, I deserved it." He said waving it off.

"I want to see Aang now." She said.

"You sure?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah." She said, steeling herself, knowing that if Sokka asked that of her it meant he wasn't in good condition.

The two walked over to the final bed, and upon looking, Katara winced, and would have taken a step back in shock if Sokka hadn't been holding her tightly. She took a deep breath, and walked forward again, Sokka letting her go and just watching from the end of the bed. Aang's left eye was covered in bandages, she looked lower to his exposed chest, and saw that his entire chest was wrapped in bandages, and on top was his arm being held by a long block of wood.

"His arm was broken?" She whispered in horror, unable to look away from it.

"He's fine now."

"But if I had gotten there sooner, maybe I could have-"

"There was nothing that you could do. If anything, it was my fault. If Toph and I had been with Aang when this happened, maybe we could have fought off the guys who caught him." He sighed, "Unfortunately we got captured and had our own problem to deal with."

"What happened?"

"Some guys Toph's parents hired captured her, and they used a coffin to do it."

"A coffin?"

"Yeah." He sighed, "It was really small and cramped too. Obviously Toph couldn't bend wood, and I couldn't reach my weapons to free us. We were trapped."

"I'm sorry." She suddenly said.

"Why?"

"I was scolding you earlier for trying to scam people. I thought the worst of you then, that maybe you had been goofing off when Aang and Suki were having trouble." She looked down guiltily, but that only brought her eyes towards Aang. It didn't matter what Sokka said – it had been her fault, she felt responsible… If only they had come sooner! A day could have made all the difference! She brought her hand up to her eyes and wiped quickly, not wanting to cry – not in front of Sokka anyway.

"You're upset; I can see why you'd think the least of me."

"No, don't make excuses." She said, a small sob sounding from her, betraying her want to not give away her emotions. Sokka crossed the distance between the two of them and held her tightly in a hug, and any chance she had of trying to regain her emotions collapses right there, and the floodgates opened. She hugged her brother back, burying her face into the side of his neck.

"It's ok." He said, not bothering to hold back his own tears, "We're all fine now, right?"

He felt her nod, and they just held each other for a few minutes.

After a few more minutes they parted, Katara rubbed the tears away and sniffling a little bit before turning back to Aang.

"There was nothing you could do." He repeated to her.

"You're right." She sighed, knowing she had to admit that to herself before she could even move on. She sighed, "So how did you escape?"

"What?"

"From the guys hired to capture Toph."

"Oh! Zuko came and rescued us with Appa."

"How did he find you guys?"

Sokka shrugged, "Not sure, you'll have to ask him."

"You didn't bother asking?"

"There's been a lot on my mind lately." He said seriously.

She nodded, "I guess so."

"You should get back to bed now."

"No!" She said, but realized how loud she said, "No, just let me stay here for now, please."

Sokka looked down towards Aang, "Are you going to try healing him?"

"Not now, I don't have water, and I'm too tired to do it anyway." She said, trying to lighten the mood.

"If you're that tired, then you should get some sleep."

"Sokka, please, just this once."

He wanted to say no, he wanted to drag her back to her bed, but he knew that wasn't the right thing to do. They had been separated for weeks now, and their separation had been difficult, and now the reunion wasn't any better. The very least he could do was to allow them to be near each other while they could. He finally sighed, "Fine, but only this once."

"Thank you." She said sincerely, giving him another quick hug, "You're the best brother I could have ever asked for."

"You're a good sister." Sokka said, patting her on the back lightly, feeling kind of awkward. He was never really good with overemotional women.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They parted, and Katara went to sit next to Aang, and Sokka went out into the hallway. He closed to the door quietly, and walked through the darkened hall down to the bedroom the doctor was allowing them to use. His shift was over now, but he didn't look forward to waking Toph up and getting her prepared to do her share of the job. He sighed, as he went into the room to wake her up.

The next day passed slowly, they were unable to leave because flying atop Appa would be very unsafe for the hurt members, and traveling on Zuko's ship was simply out of the question especially with Azula there. Of course Iroh had dealt with the girl, and she was downright pissed that she had lost to their so-called weak uncle. She would connive and looked around darkly in the room she was tied in, not bothering to scream, not wanting to show weakness.

She could escape, she knew she could, it was merely cloth that was tied, holding her to the bed like a common prisoner. She wanted to destroy her uncle, and kill Zuko both quickly, but she knew they worked with the Avatar. She knew that he'd eventually go back to the Avatar, and she would strike then, to take Aang and kill Zuko and Iroh. She smiled at the plan, yes, she would allow Zuko to feel strong for now, but soon she would one up him, and show him that he was a pawn in her game the entire time.

Outside Zuko was walking around town with his uncle, wearing a large and ridiculous looking hat he had bought so people wouldn't see his scar due to it shadowing his face, or if they did notice it, the hat would throw them off.

Iroh couldn't help but laugh every time he saw the thing atop Zuko's head, and he snickered every time he looked at it, much to the annoyance of Zuko.

"It can't be that funny anymore."

"O- Of course Prince Zuko."

"Urgh, seriously uncle?"

"You couldn't have thought people _wouldn't _react like this."

"I suppose not." He sighed, looking around at several children who were running around in the streets laughing hysterically at him. He sighed, wishing he could be anywhere but there right now. The sun was shining very brightly on his back, making it feel like it was on fire, and his clothes felt wet due to how humid it was. Oddly enough, Iroh didn't seem to care that much about the weather.

"Do you know where the fruit vendor is?"

"Somewhere around here." Zuko said, lifting up the small bag of coins.

"Too bad that storm destroyed all of your friend's supplies," Iroh sighed, "It was quite a bit they had carrying around with them."

Zuko shrugged, "They'll manage. We faced much worse situations before."

"I suppose you have."

They walked in silence for a little more, looking for the fruits before Zuko let out a huge sigh, and Iroh couldn't help but groan and roll his eyes, knowing exactly where this was going.

"What are you thinking holding Azula like that alive?"

"Do you think I would be able to kill my dearest niece?"

"She can escape any time she wants. She could easily burn herself free."

"Zuko." Iroh turned to look his nephew dead in the eyes, "You've talked to me about this dozens of times over the past few days, and let me tell you what I told you each and every other time since then: I will not kill her. She has been corrupted by my brother, and I intend to free her."

"That's not possible!" Zuko tried not to shout, but that didn't stop some children from turning around and looking at the man with the funny hate arguing with his uncle.

"I know, you've told me quite a bit already."

"She's going to kill you when she gets the chance."

"So I've heard."

"She's loyal to Ozai. She won't turn her back on him."

"There's always a way to show someone the good in the world, I did it with you before, right?" He smiled as his nephew's eye began to twitch.

Zuko turned away from his uncle, and they continued down the road, taking a right and heading further in to the town. After a small bit, his shoulder relaxed, and he blew out quite a bit of air, "I was different. Father gave you a chance to do that with me. I doubt that will ever happen with Azula, he would never order her death like he would mine. He wouldn't even hurt her – he needs an heir no matter what, she became Fire Lord if you forgot."

"I think I'll be able to find a way." Iroh said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"You're insane." Zuko finally settled on, "You're an insane old delusional man."

"Why, you're too kind." Iroh said, smiling at his nephew.

Zuko groaned, knowing it was pointless to try and continue this argument. It would eventually devolve into him shouting at his uncle and his uncle calmly explaining why he is doing what he feels he must… again.

They eventually reached several carts filled with all kinds of fruit, and Zuko looked on in surprise. For such a poor town, they certainly had quite a selection to choose from. As they were looking at them, they heard shouting coming from behind one of the nearby carts of fruit, surprising them, they looked up to see a big tough looking man looking furious around.

"FRUIT VENDOR! Your cart is still in our way! We will give you one more hour to move it from our area. Do not test our patience anymore!"

Iroh and Zuko glanced at each other, not sure what to make of the display as the tough man went back into his shop which the cart was in front of. Iroh glanced up at the shop, and stroked his beard, "A leatherworking shop? Now if only I had some extra money I would go and buy myself some new shoes…"

"Shoes?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, my feet have been extremely sore as of late, and I think it's because of my shoes."

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Let's just buy some fruit and get out of here."

Iroh obliged, though not before enticing the elderly woman who owned the fruit cart to give them a discount. Even with his adult mind, Zuko still couldn't help but roll his eyes at the display of what his carefree uncle was doing. After getting a basket full of fruits and even some vegetables the vendor had on hand, they went back to the clinic where their friends were working and hiding out at.

Suki coughed as she opened her eyes wide, and upon seeing an unfamiliar setting began to panic, she shot up, and felt all sorts of sores covering her as she twisted around and fumbled out of bed, and fell to the floor. It was then that she noticed that she was wearing a white robe, and that she had been in a very comfortable bed – much more so than the wooden floor she had fallen to. Feeling slightly humiliated for her overreaction, she reached up and grabbed the edge of the bed, pulling herself to her feet and truly looking around.

"If Aang and Katara weren't sleeping, I would have been laughing so hard from that."

Suki groaned, "Toph?"

"Right here klutz."

"I'm sorry for freaking out for a second there! All I remember is being held prisoner and then –"

"Katara saved you."

"Yeah, she did, didn't she?" She mumbled, still holding onto the bed for support, "Wow, it feels like it was all a dream."

"Nope, it was all real."

She rubbed her head, "I feel like crap."

"I bet you look like crap too." Toph chuckled, "There's water on the nightstand next to your bed if you want some water."

Suki nodded gratefully before turning towards the table, realizing then that there were two pieces of cloth hanging on either side of her bed. She knew immediately what it meant, and for a moment water was completely forgotten as she reached out and touched the fabric separating the beds apart, "Are they ok?"

"They're fine." Toph said, "You seem like you're able to walk though."

"I feel a little sore," She admitted, "But I think I can move around without worrying about anything."

"Good, Sokka has been worried sick over you. If the doctor didn't need his help right now he probably would have been by your bed when you woke up."

She crossed her arms and frowned, "I wouldn't have minded seeing him first thing, I might not have been so frightened at first."

"I think I would be if he was the first thing I saw." Toph chuckled, "Anyway, you should get back to bed and rest a little bit. Doctor will have a fit if you're out of bed and moving around."

"No, I want to see Sokka, please."

Toph paused for a moment, "You promise that you're not about to collapse?"

"I promise."

Toph shrugged, "Ok, come with me." She started walking towards the door, and Suki smiled as she saw Katara for the first time just sleeping there. She looked all right. Suki then looked up, wishing she could see Aang's condition – yet, then again, she'd probably rather not have to look at him.

Toph held the door open for Suki, and led her down a small hallway, and then through another door to what Suki assumed was the front of the clinic. The doorway to the outside was right in front of a counter, and on top of the counter were all sorts of creams, bandages, antidotes, and other things clearly meant to clean wounds. Suki looked at them for only a moment before her attention turned to the middle aged woman sitting behind the counter.

"You!" She screeched, "What are you doing up!"

Suki covered her ears, "I came out to see Sokka."

"You should be in bed resting! Wasn't someone there to stop you from-" She then glanced at Toph, "You, you should have stopped her!"

Toph shrugged, "She seemed fine to me."

"Well I am going to have to check your eyesight after this!" The woman said, before turning her attention away from Toph. She was wearing clothes that were slightly nicer than the rags that the other villagers were wearing, and she had her hair tied back into a knot. The only thing on her that indicated that she was marginally richer than the other villagers was a pair of glasses. She glared at Suki with her dark green eyes, "You should really get back to bed now."

"It's ok, really, Doctor -"

"Shou. Doctor Shou! Now, you need to get back to bed!"

"Can I at least see Sokka first?"

"Is someone calling for me?" Sokka said, walking in through the doorway carrying a small crate filled with herbs and other flowers, "Who are-" He paused upon seeing Suki up and about, and Suki paused seeing him. "Suki?" He said, he walked up to the counter and put the crate there before turning toward her.

She didn't even say anything, she just threw her arms around him, and he did the same. Toph just walked out the door, not wanting to disturb the moment, and the doctor watched, slightly amused if her smile was anything to go by.

"Well, Sokka, can you please take your girlfriend back to her bed then?"

"Of course!" Sokka said as they parted, "Come on!"

Suki allowed him to pull her into the room, and when he closed the door behind him, he looked back at her, "I'm so glad you're ok." He said.

Suki could feel her heart beating in her chest as she looked at him. She never knew that she could have missed someone this much, but after being tortured, and feeling hopeless for a few days, she had felt that she would never see him again. Seeing him again brought a huge wave of emotions through her, she just looked him straight in the eyes, her breath speeding up just being in his presence again, and she could feel hot tears coming, and she grabbed him again, hugging him to her tighter than before.

"Are you ok Suki?" He asked, not entirely sure why she was acting the way she was.

"Yeah," She whispered.

"You need to get to bed, come on."

"No, just stay like this with me for a little while."

"I would love to, but I have to help Shou, she-"

"Please..."

Sokka felt his protest die in his mouth. He wondered what had gotten into her, but he just held her, knowing that if something had shaken her up this badly, then he wouldn't leave her, even if it meant their money to buy food for their journey. In the middle of the room they stood, both of them just enjoying each other's company.

After a small while Sokka felt her breathing slow down on his neck, and he saw that her eyes were closed. "Suki?" He whispered, but she just nudged closer to him at the sound of his voice. He grinned at that, and in a quick but fluid motion he lifted her off the ground, slowly brought her back to her bed, and put her back in. Sure that she was asleep, he sat next to her, just watching her calming sleep. He let out a content sigh, feeling better than he had been for days.

It had now been a full week since the daring attack on Pohuai Stronghold. The town was still oblivious to the Avatar staying right within their midst, and because of no rumors about the Avatar being harbored, the Fire Nation hadn't come to investigate. Sokka had also planned ahead and hid Appa within the ruins far away from the town. It was quite a far walk, but they had the whistle, which hopefully would bring him to them when they needed to leave, otherwise… Well, there would probably be a lot of complaining about it.

Doctor Shou finally allowed them all to move around on the seventh day of them being in her care, and for that Suki and Katara were grateful. Aang had woken up for a few minutes at a time, but he always had to stay in bed, and due to his exhaustion, and the wounds that covered his sore body, it was never that difficult for him to fall back asleep again.

He did awake though on the seventh day, and saw that everyone else was standing around his bed – all of them were talking, and didn't seem to notice him. He tried to listen to their words, but couldn't hear anything; it felt like water was clogging his ears.

He groaned, and sat up, making sure not to hurt his broken arm, and four of five of the others talking above him stopped and looked towards him.

"You're awake." Sokka sighed, "Finally."

Suki smacked him on the shoulder with her hand, "How are you doing Aang?"

"I feel tired." He admitted.

"Then you should go back to sleep."

"No." He said shaking his head, "We have to start leaving, there are so many things we need to do right now."

"My thoughts exactly!" Sokka said, again getting hit by both Katara and Suki this time.

"We have plenty of time, we told this to Zuko before – just go back to sleep." Katara said, looking down at him with both concern and love.

Aang smiled lightly under the adoring look, wondering why she was giving it to him, but he again decided against it, and pulled the sheet covering him off, "I have to get ready. The Avatar can't be viewed as weak for the people, can someone help me up?"

Zuko walked forward and grabbed under his shoulder, helping the younger boy get to his feet, and then holding onto him tightly, just in case if he fell.

"Are you positive that you can walk?" Katara asked.

"He's fine Katara, stop trying to baby him." Toph said.

"Well! I'm sorry I'm a little concerned for my boyfriend!" She huffed.

"Blah blah," Toph said.

"Anyway!" Sokka cut in before that became the dominate conversation, "Walk around for a little bit, get used to moving again, and then meet us up in the back room."

"Where is that?"

"I'll show him." Katara volunteered.

"Good." Sokka said, "hurry up though, there's a lot we need to be discussed, and a lot of things we need to plan from here on out."

Sokka, Suki, Zuko, and Toph all left the room, though Toph made sure to make sucking sounds with her lips and pretend to be holding onto someone.

"Get out of here Toph!" Katara said, really not in the mood for her antics.

Toph laughed out loud as the door shut behind her, leaving both Aang and Katara alone. Aang walked around a little bit, before he jumped a few times. "I feel really sore, and it hurts when I move too much, but I think I can handle moving for a little while."

"Do you want me to heal you with my Waterbending?" She asked, motioning to her pouch of water.

"Yeah, but not now. We have to get to Sokka."

After he said that he just stood in place, and she did as well, both of them knew what they wanted to talk to each other about, but both were unsure how to begin. Aang had his back to her, and he was facing the door, yet he didn't move from his spot.

"Katara," He croaked.

"Yes?" She said, her heart suddenly beating very fast in her chest.

"I'm so glad you're ok." He turned around and wrapped his good arm around her, hugging her, "I was so worried when I had to leave you behind."

She hugged him back, being mindful on the new scars that now adorned his back, "I missed you too." She said gruffly, feeling the hot tears coming, "I'm just glad you didn't die when I went to save you… I would have never forgiven myself."

"It's all in the past now." He said.

"Don't make them seem like they're not much. I'm a healer, I knew the moment I saw you that you were _not _in good condition, I knew that I had to get you out of there fast; otherwise you'd have died before the execution. If only I hadn't been so stupid…"

"You did everything you co-"

"No!" She cried, letting go of him and pacing frantically around the room, "I waited on Zuko's ship for two days because of the constant downpour! We could have come to this place days earlier, and I could have saved you the night you were captured, before you were horribly beaten, and scarred."

He cracked a small smile, and wiped his eyes from his earlier crying from relief, "I needed a new scar to replace the old one I had in the other time."

"How can you joke about this?" She asked, through her tears, "I could have lost you…"

Aang had dealt with Katara on her warpath to a complete breakdown, and he knew that is where this was heading and fast. She was speaking fast, she was crying, she was pacing. If he didn't stop it now she would breakdown completely and cry uncontrollably. It had happened when her Gran died, and it happened when she had her first kill, and it was going to happen now when she almost lost him.

"I could've told Zuko to go that day – he probably would have listened! If Azula wasn't there maybe we would have gone? Maybe I could have snuck off the ship?" She continued on and on.

He reached an arm out to stop her pacing, and she looked back at him through her tear filled eyes, "Please, don't cry. I'm all right."

"But I could have made it so you were never hurt!"

"Katara," He said sternly, "I was hurt, that's true, but it is not your fault. You didn't know it was going to happen. You have got to stop beating yourself up over this, please. If we lived life only regretting not doing something faster, or earlier, or wishing we'd done something else, then we'd always be miserable. You need to let go of your guilt, and understand that you couldn't have been faster unless if you were psychic. Do you understand?"

"I know!" She cried out, "It's just, oh Aang…" She wrapped her arms around her and cried into the crook of his neck, and he just held her tightly.

_This must have really been eating her up. _He thought sadly as he watched her continue to cry.

They held onto each other, the onslaught of emotion one another felt was almost overpowering. It had been weeks since they had held each other like this, and to them that was far too long to be parted from one another. Aang felt like he was supposed to naturally be like this – to be a part of her, to never have to let go. Katara loved the feeling of him in her arms; it just felt right for her, she never thought that holding him would bring out these emotions within her, she felt the guilt begin to fade away, and just knowing that he was alive and well was all she needed.

They locked eyes then, and slowly they leaned towards each other and their lips touched. She savored the feeling, the taste, the smell, everything was just right, but she needed more – a confirmation that he would never leave. Her hands wandered across the back of his robe, detailing his scars, being sure not to incite harm to Aang, and he didn't seem to mind – doing the same on the back of her blue clothes, feeling the scar she had suffered.

She wanted more – needed more. She leaned forward, and backed Aang towards the edge of the bed, much to his surprise. She wanted to be with him now, she leaned her body as close to his body as she could, the moment was provocative, and she could tell Aang was enjoying it.

"Katara," He squeaked out, "Don't forget where we are."

Her fading mind grasped the words, and it took her mind a full minute to comprehend them. Where they were – the clinic where no one else was. Where they were –the Earth kingdom. Where they were – the past. Her mind suddenly sprang back from the hue of erotic thoughts, and she suddenly blushed profoundly, a fourteen year old girl should _not _be doing this!

"Oh, spirits, Aang, I forgot that we were-"

"Yeah, I know. I wish we weren't kids right now either." Aang said, "Can you get off me though?"

She noticed that she was still leaning atop him, forcing him to lie on the bed, she hopped off, feeling even more embarrassed than before, a healthy blush covered her cheek, "I'm sorry. I was just so glad that you're here and…" She stopped, hoping he understood.

"I'm glad that you're ok too." He said smiling widely.

She cursed her younger body in her mind, before she turned to Aang, who was evening out his robe, "We need to get to Sokka." She said.

"Oh yeah," He mumbled, "How long have we been back here?"

"Ten minutes?"

"You don't think they knew that you'd do that?"

She blushed at the thought, "Knowing them, and especially Sokka, they did."

"Do you think Toph, uh, felt it?"

She paused at that, "The floor's made out of wood… She can't see through it quite as good as Earth." She said, but she didn't feel very confident, _Please spirits not let her have seen it! _She combed down some of her hair that had gotten a little messed up, and once they looked somewhat presentable, Aang followed Katara through the building, leaving through the door from that room, going through the front, and heading into the back storage room.

"Why are we meeting in here?" Aang asked as they entered.

"Because Sokka's paranoid." Katara answered.

"I think paranoia is NOT a bad thing." Sokka scolded her, having heard what she said, "It has saved us a lot of times!"

Katara rolled her eyes, "Whatever, what are the plans?"

"We had a lot of time to talk while you were 'helping' Aang in there." Toph said.

_Oh no. _Katara said, trying her best not to let her oncoming blush be too obvious. Aang on the other hand was coughing, and looking away from everyone else.

The others apparently didn't care, or didn't notice, because Sokka started to talk almost immediately, "Ok, it's obvious now that for some reason things are going exactly how they were before. There are some differences, sure, but other than that, things have been pretty much right on track."

"What we've been doing this entire time," Suki picked up, "is trying to go against it. We try to change things too much, either to save people, spare villages from the wrath of the Fire Nation, trying to do things earlier, or generally do short cuts. Now though, fate has really punished us by trying to do so much to go against it, and it proved to us that things are going to go the same no matter what, even if it will happen earlier, at the same time, or maybe even happen later on in the future."

"Wait, so you actually believe in fate guiding the events along?" Katara asked, clearly unimpressed.

"That's exactly what we're saying." Sokka said.

"I think it's true," Zuko said.

"Same here," Aang said, sending Katara an apologetic glance.

Toph shrugged, "It might be true."

Katara knew that she was outnumbered then, "All right." She sighed, "So if fate is really true, then how can we stop it?"

"We don't." Sokka said.

"What?" Zuko and Aang asked at the same time.

"We need to go along with it," Suki explained, "In our first life, none of us were badly hurt until spring, when Aang got hurt and I got captured, but our injuries never were that serious. Since we've been tampering with fate so much, we've been making things a lot harder for ourselves."

"So wait," Katara said, remembering her conversation with Sokka on the first day here, "We're not only going to _not_ make any changes, we're going to go along with the timeline and do nothing about it? You do know that we LOST the first time right?"

"I know!" Sokka said, "Remember what I said though? Make only little changes? We've been doing too much! We liberated that concentration camp, and freed a lot of men, women, children, and Suki. The changes from that are that she travels with us now, giving us more manpower, and that there are more soldiers in the war right now! Things have to balance out though from that big change – we have to get hurt – Katara was badly injured, then Aang, and Suki."

"So what you're saying is that every good change is going to give a bad change in return?" Katara summarized.

"That's what we think." Suki said.

"Think about it! Zuko is now on our side, so instead of him chasing us all over, it's Zhao. Kyoshi Island wasn't attacked by Zuko, but Zhao. When we took over the concentration camp, Katara got injured at our next location. We subdued Azula and made Jet realize that he was wrong, so Aang and Suki got hurt really badly! Don't you guys see a pattern?"

"That seems far-fetched." Zuko admitted, "But… It might be likely."

"Hold on," Aang said, "Subdued Azula?"

"She came on Zuko's ship and Iroh took care of her." Sokka waved off.

"What?"

"Yeah," Toph laughed, "That was my reaction too."

"Anyway," Suki said, shoving aside Aang's questioning, "That leads us to the next point: We're never separating for anything anymore. We constantly move into different groups, and it always gets us into a fight, or even worse. When we were on the metal prison, we separated and Katara got hurt, we separated in this town and that got us captured whereas we could have fought them off if we were together."

"I have to go back onto my ship though," Zuko said.

"We know," Sokka acknowledged, "This is a rule for when you do end up coming around with us, whenever that will be. For the rest of us, we're not going to go our separate ways unless if the situation desperately calls for it, got it?"

Toph shrugged, Aang nodded, and Katara agreed to it as well.

"Ok," Sokka then said, "We're heading to the Northern Air Temple next Zuko, so make your way there."

Zuko let out a sigh, happy to finally be getting some direction on where to go.

"So remember, go along with fate, never get separated, and we're going to the Northern Air Temple next, ok?" Sokka said, and everyone nodded, "Oh, and Katara, can you start healing Aang today? We need him able to fight as soon as possible."

"I can, but it will take a few weeks before he can use his arm safely." She answered.

"Is that the best it can be?"

"Would you rather wait weeks or months?" She asked.

"Fine, fine," He then looked around, "Do you guys have anything else you want to say?"

A short silence later he said, "Good, you're dismissed." He was getting fully into his position as group strategist. The others just nodded though, so used to him talking like that from where they came that it became a habit to just let him do it, "We're leaving today, so be sure to talk to the doctor to get whatever medical supplies you need. Oh, and by the way, we have enough food for quite a while, so don't worry about that!"

Aang and Katara both were heading back to the room so she could begin healing him with her Waterbending. He went into the room and he sat upright on his bed with his back turned to Katara, who was sitting behind him on his bed as well.

"You might feel a little uncomfortable," She said, eyeing the still raw scars and cuts that ran all across his body, "But after this you should feel a lot better. Once I'm done with your back I'll start working on your arm." With that she began, bending water out and using her healing ability to begin to heal his back.

"Thank you Katara," He said, closing his eyes as he felt the soothing water rub against his back.

"You're welcome," she answered, smiling as she watched his head lean forward a little as he began to doze off.

**Chapter fifteen – End**

A/N – There you go, finally some Kataang. Something we've all been missing for… What was it? Five? Maybe six chapters? Whatever, I hope you enjoyed it!

Also, an important note: I am going on a temporary hiatus for the rest of July, and I will continue to update in August. I'm suffering a mild case of story writing burn out since I have been updating this every 3-4 days for over a month now, and I just need a small break from writing this story. I will continue to work on the outline occasionally during this time.

So until then, have a great July!


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter sixteen**

Three days had passed since Doctor Shou allowed them to go free from her care. Aang had to stay for an entire week due to his condition after being saved by Katara, but no one fussed much about it, knowing that it was for the best that Aang healed up. It also allowed time for Suki and Katara to recover from the ordeal as well, and everyone appreciated time off from doing anything serious for once. Unfortunately, their time for rest came to an abrupt halt, and their journey had to continue once again.

"It was nice being with you guys," Zuko said, "Uncle and I have to get back to the ship though."

"The men must be curious as to why we've been gone so long." Iroh added.

The group of seven all stood outside of the main gate of the village, Aang had the bison whistle grasped in his hand. His orange clothes had been torn apart by the Fire Nation, so now he wore simple greens, and his arm was still slung over his chest, but now only a cloth was holding it for him, the wood was removed a few days ago due to Katara's impressive healing abilities.

Since meeting up with the rest of the team, Katara had also changed back to her Water Tribe outfit, removing the red one she had to wear, but she kept it anyway, claiming that it would be good just in case if she needed to pose as a Fire Nation civilian. Zuko didn't press for more information, not really caring. Her messed up hair was again neatly braided, and she looked far better than she had in weeks, the scar on her only causing mild discomfort now.

Suki's Kyoshi outfit was unfortunately destroyed as well by the Fire Nation cutting it apart, and she also wore similar greens as Aang did. On her back was her katana, and on the leather belt she wore were her two fans, even though one was damage, it was still a deadly weapon, and she would use it regardless of the damage done to it.

The sun was beating down on them as they all stood outside the village gate, walking a little ways. Zuko and Iroh had their cart with them being pulled by the Ostrich Horses, and Azula was knocked out cold inside the wagon. It was a far cry to the weather the village was experiencing a week ago, and everyone was truly thankful for it.

"We'll see you at the Northern Air Temple then," Aang said smiling at Zuko.

"Ok," Zuko quickly replied.

Katara came forward and quickly gave him a hug, "Thanks again Zuko."

Zuko hugged her back melting from the emotionless display he had shown previously,"You're welcome." With that Zuko let go, and began to walk in the opposite direction with his uncle. They had agreed to get going as soon as possible, and Zuko would not be the one to make them waste anymore time.

"Bye Zuko!" Sokka shouted, "Don't go missing again ok!"

When Zuko was a decent distance away, Aang brought the bison whistle to his lips and blew on it, and smiled widely as he saw Appa start to come towards him from the sky.

"Wow, he responded fast." Sokka said offhandedly.

"Thankfully," Toph mumbled, "I'd hate to wait in this sunlight for much longer."

"It's not that bad," Sokka said, waving her complaint off, "Now come on."

Appa landed in front of them with a small grunt, and he turned towards Aang and licked the boy, getting him completely soaked. Aang couldn't help but laugh as he did so, "I missed you too!" he said. Momo too was flying around him, happy to see him all right. "Come on! We need to start going you two!" Aang said, finally stopping Appa soaking him to the bones. Everyone was feeling lighter after the display, and their morale was high as they climbed atop the bison and flew off towards their next destination.

Sokka unrolled the now very crumpled map as he looked it over, the rain had made it much harder to read, and made it unable to roll up properly anymore. However it was the only map they had, so he had to use it. He looked at it for a small bit more, before he decided to talk, "It would take us roughly a week to reach the Northern Air Temple if Appa were to go full speed at our usual day schedule."

"Don't forget about Zuko," Aang said back to him.

"I know, if we slow down so he could catch up, it would take almost three weeks." He paused so the others could absorb this, "Do we really want to wait almost a month to get there?"

Aang shrugged, "We'll be fine."

"We've been wasting enough time as it is," Sokka commented, "We've been in the past for almost two months now if you remember."

"Sokka," Katara said, cutting in, "Even if it takes us another month to make it there, don't you remember we spent almost two months in the spring looking for a teacher for Aang? The rest of it we spent in Ba Sing Se."

Every shuddered at the thought of the city besides Suki, who looked questionably around at everyone tensing up at the name of the city.

"Look, I'm not saying we should leave Zuko behind, but the sooner he can start traveling with us, the faster we'll get things done."

"He's been a big help in the Fire Nation so far," Suki said, "His position hasn't been compromised yet, so he'll probably be there for a long time still."

Sokka sighed, "Yeah, I know. I just hope it doesn't make us too tight on time."

"We still have almost two full months before spring even begins Sokka, you're just worrying too much!" Toph said, relaxing with her arms behind her head.

"Fine," He said, looking down at the map, "Though since we're going to the same location, but we'd get there faster than Zuko, there's a few villages we might want to check out along the way, some for supplies, and to get some more money."

He pointed out a few to the group, Suki and Katara leaning over the map. Aang was at the front guiding Appa, and Toph didn't for obvious reasons. Momo also seemed uncharacteristically interested in the map, and was leaning forward to look at it front atop Sokka's head. Sokka didn't seem to mind the new resident on his head, probably used to it due to years of travelling with the flying lemur.

"How about we go there then." Katara said, pointing at the map.

Sokka leaned forward to read the name, the text was faded, but he could barely make out, "Makapu Village?"

"If that's what it's called."

"Anyone object to going there?" He called out. No one did, "Ok then, that's where we're going. It's about a four day trip from here, so get ready for some make-up training guys – you've all ready been slacking off!"

Everyone but Suki groaned at that, causing Sokka and Suki to laugh at their plight.

It was exactly four days later when they spotted the village they were going to visit, and it was only late morning. They were still in the mountainous region of the Earth Kingdom, and all around there was a light layer of snow, a big difference compared to the constant storming of the past week they had to go through.

"I'm going to land Appa a little ways from the village." Aang said.

"Good idea." Katara answered him, looking down at the curious eyes they were attracting.

"You know, this place looks oddly familiar." Sokka said, eyeing the place intently, "Must be my imagination." He shrugged and leaned back on the saddle of Appa next to Suki.

They landed a little bit away like Aang said, and once they got off, they heard the sound of something growling. The group got prepared for a fight, looking all around themselves, but noticed they were in no imminent danger.

"False alarm?" Suki asked.

"No, it's coming from over there." Toph said, pointing towards the river, "It's hidden behind some trees – a monster is attacking a man!" She said, realizing what was going on.

"We have to help him!" Aang said, grabbing his staff with his good arm.

Everyone was way ahead of him, going towards the commotion, Sokka in the lead, and then he stopped dead in his tracks, watching as a man with a goofy grin was side stepping the attacks of an enraged platypus bear. Toph stepped forward and with a few quick moves with her Earthbending, hit the bear several times, making it run off in pain.

"Thank you." The man said, turning towards the youths, "But you really didn't have to." He dusted off his green clothes, and patted down his messed up mop of hair.

"What?" Toph asked, not quite sure she heard him right.

"Aunt Wu predicted I would survive that fight – so you didn't need to help me." He explained further, never letting his smile leave his face.

"Oh no…" Sokka muttered, "Katara, out of every place you could pick, WHY THIS PLACE?"

"How was I supposed to know this was _that _place!"

"You know I had nightmares of this village for WEEKS after we visited last?"

"Why? Because you were so shocked people could live off fortunes?"

'Because people were willing to risk their lives based on these useless tidbits of information!" Sokka shouted, "You!" He pointed at the man and walked up to him, "They reason you survived was because we came and saved you! Nothing other than that!"

"If you say so." The man said, seemingly indifferent to the boys nearly enraged state.

"Ahhhhrggghh!" Sokka shouted, falling to the floor, "Can we PLEASE skip this place?"

"Has your village recently been destroyed by a volcanic eruption?" Aang asked the man.

"Not recently, no." The man answered.

"Ok," Aang nodded, "We'll just stay here for a day, get some supplies, clean ourselves up, save a village from imminent destruction, get our fortunes told – the usual. Besides, you said go along with fate from now on right?" Aang said, turning to look at Sokka.

"You're mocking me, aren't you?" Sokka said, glaring at Aang.

Aang smiled back, but didn't deny it.

Toph and Suki were both utterly confused by what they were talking about, but Katara had no problem laughing at Sokka's situation.

The man ended up leading the five to the village, much to Sokka's dismay, and everyone else's amusement. It was a plain village really, but compared to the recent places they had visited it was far more lavish looking. Everyone was wealthy – probably from the plantations they handled nearby the village. It was a typical village of the Earth Kingdom, unaffected by the war so far. They were led up to the center of the village, and in the center there was a large and imposing building where Aunt Wu did her fortune telling.

"Here we are!" Aang said.

"Joy." Sokka mumbled.

They entered the building, and were met by a young girl with one of the oddest hairstyles any of them have ever seen… again.

"Hello!" She said, "If you're here for a fortune you'll have to wait a little bit – Aunt Wu is busy with someone else right now. You can sit down here as you wait."

As they sat down, Suki turned towards Toph, "Is she related to you? She sounds just like you do."

"I don't have any siblings." Toph answered, sounding annoyed.

"You can call my Meng!" the girl that led them in said, not hearing Toph and Suki's quiet conversation. She looked around at her guest, Toph who looked bored, then at Suki who looked slightly interested, then to Sokka who looked like he was ready to maul someone if given the chance, then to Katara who had a light smile on her face as she kept glancing at Sokka and laughing every little bit, and then to Aang.

Her heart stopped for a split second, and her mind instantly put a frame around Aang's face as he smiled at her. Suddenly she was swept away in her imagination, the bald boy was going to marry her, propose in the most surprising and romantic way. She eyed the arrow tattoo, and felt her heart melt even more – she liked a boy who had tattoos.

"What's your name?" She said, leaning in towards Aang.

"I'm Aang." He answered, still smiling at her.

Sokka noticed the interactions, and started to laugh at Katara, who now looked like she was ready to maul the little girl. Suki rolled her eyes at the sibling's antics, and Toph just listened intently.

"Can I get you anything while you wait _Aang_?" She said his name slowly, adoring the way it just slid off her tongue, and she felt her eyes closing as she looked at him, wishing she had the courage to simply lean forward and get that kiss.

"_WE _wouldn't mind something while we wait." Katara said, wrapping an arm around Aang and narrowing her eyes at the little girl.

Sokka and Toph were openly laughing now, tears forming in their eyes. Katara didn't seem to care as she glared at the girl, and Aang just looked confused in the crossfire between the two girls. Meng returned the glare tenfold, and after a few seconds, she turned around and walked away with a huff, presumably to get them something to eat while they waited.

When she left through the door away from their waiting room, Katara turned towards Aang, "I can't believe you'd just take it all in stride like that!"

"She was just a cute little girl," Aang said, rubbing his head nervously.

"She was falling head over heels for you and you did nothing to stop it from happening!"

"Aw, is wittle Katara jealous?" Sokka said, and received a smack on his back with her Waterbending as she glared at him like a saber tooth moose-lion would look at its prey. He let out a little yelp and leaned away, not wanting to invoke the wrath of Katara anymore. Toph was now rolling on the floor laughing, and Suki just rubbed Sokka's back as he looked away from Katara.

"You seem a little different." Suki said to Katara, "Usually you wouldn't let something like that get to you."

Katara looked confused, but then her eyes widened and she smacked herself on the forehead, "How could I forget to tell you guys?"

"What?" Aang asked, forgetting about the wrath of Katara he was about to suffer.

"Not now," She said shaking her head, "I'll tell you guys after we leave this house."

Sokka shrugged, "Suki _is _right though, you are acting a little different."

Katara sighed, "Like I said, I'll tell you after we leave this building."

At that Meng came back carrying a small tray of fruits for them to eat. Sokka dug right in along with Toph, while Suki nibbled on a few things. Even Aang had a few of the things on the tray, but Katara was looking at Meng, and vice versa. Eventually after a few minutes, a woman came out of the room, crying in what looked like relief.

"Oh thank you Aunt Wu!"

"Please, it's not me who deserves your thanks." Aunt Wu said, waving off the thanks, "Now, who is next?" She walked forward to the five kids, and gasped, "The Avatar!"

"Hi." Aang said, waving at her.

"Oh my, I'm humbled to be in your presence!" She said, bowing to the boy, "Do you wish to learn your fortune?"

"I would love to learn it." Aang said, standing up, "I need to tell you a few things too."

As they walked away, Meng stood in awe over what she learned, "The Avatar…?"

"Don't get any funny ideas." Katara said, watching the little girl, renewing their intense glaring contest.

Aang and Aunt Wu went into a dark room, with only a fire pit in the middle and two cushions for them to sit on either side of the fire. There was also a bucket full of bones next to one cushion, assumedly where Aunt Wu would be sitting down, so Aang went to the other seat in the darkened room, and watched the shadows play across Aunt Wu's face as she sat across from him.

"I must warn you young Avatar; you might not like the future which I predict."

"I know."

"Then let us begin."

She picked up a bone and looked it over before throwing it into the fire. It cracked once, then again shortly after, and then again. Her eyes widened as it continued to break apart, until it simply exploded with in the fire, sending small shards of bone all over the floor. She picked up several of the shards and looked at them, and then frantically began to pick up more.

"You will learn of a well guarded secret in due time." She said, reading one them of, "You'll learn of it, and it will affect the outcome of everything you know!" She picked up another, "You will be in a climactic battle, between the forces of good and evil! You will fight the Fire Nation, the Fire lord himself! And you shall-" She picked up another shard, and immediately stopped speaking.

"Well?"

"You're destined to fail…"

She rubbed her forehead, "No, that cannot be true… but… but the fortunes never lie." She looked up mournfully at the Avatar, "I'm so sorry…"

Aang was struck by how accurate her reading was to his previous life, and felt his chest well up with dread, anxiety, and most of all, fear. "Maybe you read them wrong?"

"No," She said shaking her head sadly, "This is the outcome the bones predict."

"Throw another one on!" Aang demanded, "That can't be how it ends!"

Aunt Wu obliged to his wish, and they both watched as it again exploded, "It's the same as before."

He groaned, "What is the secret then?" That was the only thing from his previous life that he couldn't remember, which means it probably didn't happen. _If I can figure out what it is…_

"You must find out yourself, for I do not know."

Aang groaned, "Just great…"

Both stood up wordlessly, and walked out of the room. Aang never felt so numb before, he had doubts, and fears about failing again, but to be told that he would fail was something he didn't even imagine he would hear. He heard nothing as the door opened, and he walked over to his group of friends, he didn't even pay attention to Katara and Meng's antics. Instead, he just walked out of the building, leaving it all behind, too numb to deal with it right now.

"Aang?" Sokka called, but watched as the boy walked out, "Oh no." He looked towards a sad looking Aunt Wu, "What did you say to him?"

"That's for him to disclose to you."

He cursed under his breath, and got up, the other three right behind him as they left the building and surrounded Aang, "What'd she say Aang?" Katara asked, shaking him a little, and grabbing hold on his good arm so he wouldn't walk away further.

He blinked a few times, and sighed, "She said I was destined to fail against the Fire Lord."

"She said that?" Sokka mumbled, "Right in front of you?" Sokka said, feeling his anger begin to bubble over.

"She warned me before she told my fortune that I wouldn't like it."

"Was there anything else?" Katara asked, pressing further.

"She said I would learn of a well guarded secret that would change the outcome of everything." Aang answered, "But she didn't know what the secret was."

Katara felt her heart lurch, "I do."

"What?" Sokka asked, turning towards her.

"I know the secret – what Aang needs to know in order to defeat the Fire Lord! Zuko and I figured it out!"

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Toph asked.

"It didn't cross my mind until today," She admitted, "So much has been happening that it just kind of left my mind."

"Whatever! What is it?" Sokka asked. Everyone looked intently at her, making her feel a little self-conscious, but she swallowed her nervousness down, looked around to make sure they were away from any other prying ears, and began to talk.

"When we came back, we came back into our younger bodies, right?" She said, everyone nodded, not knowing what she was getting at, "Well, we never took the time to consider what happened to the bodies before we came back, were they just empty before we came, or whatever. It turns out that we came back and took then over from our past selves."

"What?" Suki gasped.

"Seriously?" Toph said.

"No way." Sokka mumbled.

Aang just quietly waited for Katara to go on, "The secret is our past selves, they can change everything for us." Everyone just looked confused, so she elaborated, "You got to go see them, in your mind. When I talked to my past self, we merged into one person, and because of that I feel better, I can remember a lot of things I had forgotten, and it dulls the pain of what happened to us in the other time."

"So we have been locking in our past self in our minds?" Suki said slowly, sounding sick, "Are they ok?"

"They are fine." Katara said, "Though I found mine after being here for three weeks, and she was crying when I met her… I'm not sure how your past selves will react to being alone for so long."

"So, that is why you're acting different." Toph said connecting the dots, "You merged with your past self, and it made you into a kid again!"

"Not a kid," She said, resenting how that sounded, "I am still the same person, kind of. I mean, I guess I am kind of a kid, but I still have been through everything with you. Iroh said that I merged 'more' with my younger self if that makes any sense."

"Kind of." Sokka said, "But how will this change the fate of everything? I can see how it would be helpful, but to save the world?"

"Because Aang's past self didn't die while in the Avatar State." Katara said, looking around at the other four.

Sokka stopped talking, too surprised by the information, Suki and Toph were in a similar state of shock.

"That explains it then," Aang mumbled, "I can feel other spirits now whereas in the future I couldn't after I 'died'." He nodded, "So I need to merge with my past self, right?" He said, looking at his friends.

"That's right." Katara said, happy that Aang was out of his depressed mood now.

"Ok, so we need to meet our younger selves." Sokka said, "And how do we do that?"

"I don't know," Katara mumbled when everyone looked at her, "I did it when I was badly hurt."

"Let's see if we can do it without getting hurt." Suki suggested when Sokka looked thoughtful at the prospect. He sighed, at that and looked away towards the volcano.

"Right, we need to worry about that," He said, "But we need to deal with that right now." He turned towards Aang, "Did you tell Aunt Wu about that?"

"No," Aang said shaking his head, "I completely forgot."

"So what did she do?" Sokka mumbled, "She messed with the clouds right?"

"She read them." Katara said, "And Aang had to change the shapes of the clouds to make her tell the people that the volcano here is active."

"All right, so what was the shape that needed to be up there to make people realize that they are about to die?" Sokka said, looking up to the sky.

Zuko's ship was currently docked at another Fire Nation port, still quite a while until they reached the Northern Air Temple. He was on the bridge of his ship playing Pai Sho against his uncle, and he was losing horribly. He had two fingers on his forehead while his thumb was on the side of his head. He slowly reached out with his other hand, and with his index finger he slid a tile across the board, towards his uncle.

"An interesting move nephew," Iroh commented, looking at the board as he stroked his beard.

Zuko didn't respond, and watched as his uncle completely countered his attack by moving a tile to intercept the one he just moved. It was his turn again, and he looked at all his pieces, and then back to his uncle, before he moved another tile towards his uncle's lotus tile.

"Oh? Why would you do something like that I wonder?" Iroh said.

Zuko watched as Iroh moved another piece to the center of the board, and he realized that his uncle didn't have anything else to do to counter what he just did. His eyes widened, and he smiled as he reached forward to begin to defeat his uncle, but it was soon ended when one of his men burst into the room and rammed into the table on accident, knocking the tiles off the table and abruptly ending the game.

"NO!" He cried, "What is it?" He turned to the man, "It better be important!"

"Sir," The man said, not stuttering at all, "there's a Fire Nation ship incoming."

Zuko got up from the table, and went out onto the deck, since the bridge of the ship was facing the port town. He walked around on the deck of the bridge until he could see the open sea, and he pulled out a small telescope and brought it up to his good eye, "Zhao," He muttered darkly, "What does he want now?"

Inside the bridge Iroh looked at the man who came up, "Jee was it? Would you care to play a game of Pai Sho?"

"No thanks." Jee said, leaving the room to go back to the wreck room. Iroh shrugged, and went back to setting the tiles up to hopefully play his nephew again. He was thankful Jee had come in and knocked over the table, he was beginning to lose, and a master like himself should never lose to a novice like Zuko.

Zuko walked back into the ship, and went straight towards his uncle, "we need to talk, alone."

He said, pulling his uncle out of the room, not even giving the man time to compose himself as his nephew continued to drag him away. They reached Zuko's room, and the door slammed shut behind them, and Zuko locked it before turning to his uncle, "Zhao is coming."

"Oh, well that's not very good."

"Could you please act a little concerned?"

Iroh shrugged, "Do you believe he knows that you're holding your sister and her guards' prisoner on this ship?"

Zuko blinked a few times, "Oh spirits, maybe we shouldn't have done that – the crew is obviously suspicious of what is going on... Do _you _think he knows?"

"No, I don't." Iroh said, allowing Zuko to sigh in relief.

"What is he coming for?"

"I don't know."

Zuko sighed, "Then we'll have to wait for him to come to us…"

The two walked onto the bow on the ship, and waited for the much larger boat to pull up aside them. It took quite a while, and Zuko wondered for a bit why he always did this when he could be inside his ship playing a round of Pai Sho with his uncle. He shook his head, and sighed, knowing that that he would be far too nervous to do anything other than wait for the general to get to his ship.

And so he waited, allowing the sun to beat down on his back and armor until the ship pulled up to them. The ramp lowered down to his side and soon Zhao was walking down it with two guards on either side. He smiled down at Zuko, who was glaring right back at him.

"What do you want now?" Zuko asked.

"Tsk tsk," He said waving his finger, "Manners Zuko. After all, you're addressing an Admiral now."

"You were promoted to Admiral?" Zuko asked, clearly unable to believe it.

"Yes, I was, and so I've began to amass quite a large force to begin exclusively hunting down the Avatar among other things."

"The Fire Lord won't be pleased when he hears how you're wasting his resources to hunt for a kid." Zuko countered.

"Yes, well, I'm sure he won't be disappointed when I find the Avatar and present the boy to him, will he?" Zhao said, trying to get a rise out of the boy - it was almost like a goal for him to rile Zuko up now, since he got it to work so little lately. However, Zuko just continued to glare, unfazed by the jab at him.

"Anyway, I've come here to take your crew. I need manpower, and I figured I would take it where it's being wasted first."

"You can't do that!" Zuko immediately yelled, "I need them to work my ship!"

"That's too bad."

"They won't work for you anyway, they're loyal to me!"

"We'll see." He said, another group of guards walking down the ramp right behind him carrying a chest of money, "This is enough incentive to leave you, don't you think?"

Zuko groaned, knowing that it would be more than enough, considering the amount of respect and money he gave to his men was abysmal compared to that, and much to no one's surprise, an hour later all of Zuko's men were leaving the ship, waving at Zuko as they walked by. Zuko remembered this from his previous life, and had his arms crossed and he glared at his men, while Iroh was silently mourning them leaving, "I can't believe they're gone!"

"Good riddance." Zuko grumbled, angry that his men would leave him.

Iroh looked around, and saw that Zhao was busy overseeing his new crew members, and he leaned towards Zuko, "Did this happen last time?"

"Yeah," Zuko whispered back, "Though I don't think it happened quite so early…"

Iroh nodded, keeping that tidbit of information in mind as Zhao walked back over towards them, "Iroh, you know you're welcome to come as well. I could use someone like you to assist me in capturing the Avatar. There are also some other things I wouldn't mind having your input on."

"I'm sorry Zhao, but my place is here with my nephew. I'm afraid I am going to have to reject your offer."

"Fine," Zhao said, though he didn't look happy at all. He turned to Zuko and then said, "I heard rumors that the Princess is with you, is that true?"

"No." Zuko denied, "She isn't welcome on my ship, and neither are you."

Zhao laughed at that, "Of course, _Prince _Zuko, whatever you say." His gaze lingered on Zuko for a few more seconds, as if he was waiting for the boy to crack and tell him everything. He fortunately didn't get his wish, and he shook his head, turning around and leaving the port and Zuko behind.

"Well…" Zuko said, looking around at his crewless ship, "How are we going to leave port now?"

Iroh shrugged, just as clueless as his nephew.

"Are you serious?" Sokka shouted a happily married couple, "Of course you're going to have over twenty kids if you keep it up! Why would you WANT twenty kids?"

"You have to wash sometimes!"

"You're just being a moron!"

Sokka was going out of his mind, "I hate this village, I hate this village, I hate this village…" He kept repeating, sitting down on a bench as Suki calmly pat him on his back, "Why are they like this?" he asked her.

"They just really believe in her. You should just let them believe what they want." She offered, "You're making a big deal out of nothing."

"But it is going to kill them all!"

"We're here, so technically her prediction that we're all safe is right."

Sokka felt his eye twitch, and he just covered his face with his hands and tried to calm down. An hour ago Aunt Wu did her cloud reading, and she claimed that the volcano was not active, even though it truly was. Aang was currently getting the book, and spirits knew where Toph and Katara were.

"Where's Toph and Katara?" Sokka suddenly asked.

"Well, Toph said she wanted to explore the village while you went on your frenzy, and Katara followed her shortly after."

"We are supposed to stick together now! I wasn't that bad." He exclaimed, but Suki just started at him with a flat look, "Oh come on, really?"

"You were."

"Fine," He hesitantly agreed, "When is Aang getting here?"

"Right now," Aang said, walked over to them, holding his glider in his hood hand and gripping the book with his hand on his broken arm, "Here's the cloud we need to form, so I just need to get on top of Appa, and then we'll bend the clouds to this shape, right?"

"A skull, huh, very spooky, very onimous," Sokka grumbled looking at the picture in the book before pushing it back towards Aang, "get Katara to help you, it'd probably be easier if you had her with you."

Aang hesitated for a little bit before nodding, "yeah, I'll do that."

Aang wandered through the town really quick, looking around until he spotted both Katara and Toph wandering around looking at some of the shops. Toph was following Katara at this point, bored out of her mind.

"Hey, Katara." Aang said, running up to her.

"Hello Aang!" She greeted warmly.

"Come on, we need to bend the clouds." He lifted up the book, "I need some help since I can only use one arm."

She nodded in understanding, "Of course."

"I'll just stay here and be bored." Toph answered.

Aang smiled lightly and patted her on the back, "I'm sorry, you'll have something to do later – I promise!"

"Does it involve digging in the ground?"

Aang paused, "Maybe?"

Toph just sighed and turned away from him and walked off. Katara just shrugged and soon the two were off into the forest surrounding the village.

The two went to Appa, and climbed atop the beast, Aang grabbed Katara's hand and brought her up, though he didn't stay close to her, as if the second he let go of her hand he didn't want to be around her. He went to the front of Appa and flew him up into the sky. However, this odd behavior immediately stuck out to Katara, who looked at him with concern.

"Are you all right?"

"I- I'm fine." Aang said, shaking his head, "Really."

She looked at him as he turned away, feeling confused and a little sad at how he was acting. She let out a sigh, and instead focused on the task at hand.

With that both Aang and Katara went to change the clouds around to form the skull shape once again atop Appa, Momo tagging along. It was mostly Katara who weaved the clouds, subtly making them change shape so the people down below wouldn't get suspicious. Aang didn't even have to help out, because Katara was easily handling it on her own, so he just ended up staying back as she gracefully moved her arms about bending the clouds to her will. It took her maybe five minutes with her expert bending art.

"I think that's good enough!" Aang called back to her, the rushing of the wind made it harder to hear things up in the clouds.

"Ok!" She shouted, doing a few final touches.

On the ground, Sokka and Suki practically dragged Aunt Wu out and showed her the cloud, making her gasp in horror, "Oh no! The Volcano is going to erupt soon!"

"You need to assemble the crowd so we can tell everyone what to do." Sokka pressed.

"Yes, right away!" She said, getting onto her podium in the middle of the town where she gave off her cloud readings before. The crowd saw her there, and immediately people began to gather around her, curious as to what she needed to say this time.

When the crowd was large enough, she stepped aside, to allow Sokka to speak, "Aunt Wu was wrong! The volcano is active, and is ready to erupt at any time now! If you want to save the town, we have to work fast, and work together. We're going to build a trench around the village to allow the lava to flow away from the village! Any Earthbenders in the crowd, even if you're inexperienced, need to start now, the rest of us will help dig!"

And like that, the crowd began to do their assigned jobs. Toph grabbed the group of Earthbenders and along with them, easily was able to make a very deep and long trench. The rest of the villagers started to dig.

Katara and Aang came to the town a little time after that, and Aang immediately went to help Earthbend, while Katara started to dig by Suki. Though there was chaos, and shouting all over, Katara turned to Suki, wanting to get her thoughts out of her mind.

"When I was up in the air, I noticed something," Katara said to Suki.

"What?"

"Aang is acting weird."

"Why do you say that?" Suki asked, sparing a glance at Katara before getting back to work.

"He's being more… distant."

"He's just having a hard time accepting what Aunt Wu told him," Suki said, "Give him time and he'll act like he always does."

Katara nodded, though she didn't look convinced, "All right."

Like in the past the managed to complete the task in time before the volcano erupted, and with the extra help of Toph and Aang's Earthbending it went even better than expected, with the lava poured into the deep trench, oozing along, Aang watched from above, being careful not to burn himself. He smiled as he watched the trench easily holding up, and he knew that he wouldn't need to do anything else to save the village.

His friends were watching from far away, ready to go help in a moment's notice, but it wasn't required, as he was walking back towards him.

"It's going to work." He said to them.

"That's a relief." Sokka sighed.

Katara went forward and hugged Aang who stiffened in her grasp, "What's wrong?" She asked, letting him go when he just patted her on the back.

"Nothing," He said evasively, "We need to leave soon."

"If there's something wrong, you're going to tell me." She said sternly, not allowing him to back out of this one.

Sokka coughed, "Hey, before you two lovebirds argue, can you at least wait until we're gone."

"I agree with Sokka." Suki said.

"We're also standing next to an active volcano that is still pouring lava, are you sure you want to have a conversation here?" Sokka added.

"We're safe." Aang said, "The trench is enough to hold it off this time."

"More importantly is that we went along with fate, and nothing bad happened!" Sokka cheered, "So that _is _how we're supposed to do this!"

"You didn't seem very happy to come here in the first place Sokka." Katara reminded him, "It sounded like you'd rather be anywhere than here, regardless if it was 'fate' or not."

"Yeah, well, things change."

Katara rolled her eyes, "Ok, how about you take Suki and Toph so I can have a little chat with Aang?" Aang gulped at that, and looked pleadingly at Sokka, but Sokka just shrugged.

"If you say so." He then mouth 'good luck Aang' before he turned around, Suki behind him and dragging Toph, who was yelling about wanting to hear all the drama unfold.

Though it was night time, the fires from the lava provided more than enough light so they could look each other in the face without hiding their emotions. Aang was looking away towards the destruction force, while Katara was trying to catch his eyes with her own. After over a minute of this, she sighed, and reached forward and grabbed his chin and turned his eyes towards her.

"Now, what's wrong?" She asked again.

"Look," Aang said, trying to get it out, "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"Yeah, we all do. I just told you the secret that Aunt Wu predicted, so what's the problem? You can use the Avatar State to defeat the Fire Lord!"

"I don't know if that's the secret though," Aang admitted.

"What else could it be?"

"I don't know, I just have a feeling that that is not what she was talking about."

"Is that why you're acting like this then? You've practically been ignoring me since I told you, what's your problem?"

Aang noticed how hurt she looked, and that made him feel a lot worse than he already did, "It's just that, you merged with your past self, and you're like a kid now, and… I just don't feel right when we act like how we usually do together."

"W- What?" She mumbled, too surprised to say anything else.

"You're too… innocent now, I guess." He sighed, "I just don't feel right thinking of you how I usually do, and I think we should stay away from each other for a little while…"

_He thinks I'm a kid? _She initially felt a wave of anger, but it quickly dissolved when she thought further on it. She was acting more childlike, her behavior was definitely a little different. Was it because of how she acted towards Meng earlier that day? She began to examine everything she did that could possibly make Aang come to that conclusion, and she blinked rapidly, _maybe I should give him space… Let him have time to deal with it…_

She forced herself to let out a shaky breath, and noticed that Aang was watching her the entire time, "Aang… I'm still the same person I have always been. I went through everything with you in the future, I remember it all, and I remember everything we've done with one another, but…" She sighed, "I understand."

"You do?"

"Yeah," She said, pained to say that at all, "I still love you though; I only hope you can see that…"

He looked away guiltily again, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She said feeling another stab pierce through her heart when he didn't say he loved her back just then, "Come on, we need to go to Aunt Wu."

"You're not mad?" Aang asked, sounding clearly surprised.

"No." She answered, walking away.

Aang felt like he had just done something wrong, very wrong. For now though he simply followed Katara, wondering if he had done the right thing.

They made it to Aunt Wu, who was watching the village from afar with the villagers behind her hiding in the woods, "Thank you for saving us Avatar." She said when Aang came trotting up with Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph were all nearby, "if there is anything we can do for you, simply ask."

"Well," Aang said slowly, "We do need some supplies…"

Admiral Zhao sat across from several men wearing black; all of them had dark yellow eyes, that stared almost lifelessly ahead at Zhao, who was simply examining them. The lantern on the table was the only thing in the room providing light, the sun having gone down a few hours ago, and the metallic black ship did nothing to stop the oppressing darkness from being even worse, but it didn't seem to faze any of them there.

After a few minutes of staring the four men down, Zhao finally spoke, "I have gotten word back from the Fire Lord. He wishes for his failure of a son to be dealt with, so that is why I want to hire you four to deal with him in any way you can. I have several barrels of blasting jelly that you may find useful in the cargo hold, and I will allow you to use it how you please, so long as Zuko ceases to exist by the end of the week. Try not to kill his uncle, but if you have to, do not hesitate to do so."

He looked at the men, who silently watched him, not acknowledging anything he had just said. Good, he liked these guys, they were professional.

"You're dismissed. Once I hear word of Zuko's death I will pay you all."

The men walked out of the room, again not saying a word, but they didn't have to. Zhao knew that they would do it, and he knew that Zuko would soon be out of the picture, permanently.

**Chapter sixteen – End**

A/N – Hey! It only took me 2 months to come out with the next chapter! That's not too bad compared to other stories out here, right? RIGHT? Anyway, I have no excuse for how late this is. I actually had this chapter done for that entire 2 months, but just now got around to posting it after I editted it. The next chapter will take a while to come out unfortunately, but the good news is that I have the first two thousand words written.

Until then, have a good day.

OH! One more thing! I have a poll going on in my profile on which pairing I should go with for Zuko. pairings isn't the focus of this story obviously, but I am curious as to who you guys believe he should be with, Toph or Mai?


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